Pellet Stove Venting ?

[KFC]

Can I vent a pellet stove into a pre-fab fireplace chimney ?
Yeah I know pellet stoves are just space heaters but I have no other options. My girlfriend lives in a townhouse (middle of block) and has a crappy heat pump. House is always cold and electric bill is through the roof. She has a pre-fab fireplace in the finished basement, I was thinking of putting in a pellet stove and venting it into the pre-fab chimney. Will it work ??? My first choice would be a wood stove but nowhere to store wood and too much work keeping it fed.

 

[A. Stanton]

KF,
Why don't you see if they make a pellet stove insert that would fit it. I saw the plumber on This Old House install a pellet stove right in someone's living room without a problem. Apparently they don't need the set backs from walls like a wood stove does. He vented it straight thru the wall with a vent that looks like the vent from a clothes dryer.

 

[KFC]

That's a possibility, but this basement has a poured concrete foundation and finished drywall walls and ceilings. I am trying to utilize the existing flue without punching anymore holes in the wall.

 

[indiansprings]

Space Heater? I have one made by a division of Lennox that heats 2500 sq feet of a 5400 sq ft home quite effectively. However, it will be replaced this summer with a Pacific Energy or Quadra Fire Stove due to the increased cost of pellets. Plus we run a firewood business, didn't though when we built.