2 open fireplaces in my new house with heatilator dampers?

[Uzi]

Anyone have any experience with these things? One is an open front the other has glass doors but both have a damper in the chimney operated by a lever that says heatilator. They also have vents around them but don't seem to have any fan that forces air through.

I'll include some pictures to help explain what I'm talking about. I'm basically want to get the most heat possible out of them, but I've always been a stove guy just moving into this place hoping to get by this winter and then look for inserts.

 

[Uzi]

This is the damper it can completely close off the opening to the chimney or be wide open like a traditional fireplace.


Lever that operates it

Main level fireplace

Basement fireplace both have the same set of levers and same design.

 

[hunter72]

My fireplace was built with glass doors on front and a fire box like a haetilator but made of 1/4' steel. It has 2 electric fans that move air across the back of fire box, you get some heat but no control of the burn . I have installed a insert some years ago and now have better control, but not like the Drolet HT2000 I have in the base basement.
Hope this helps

 

[turnkey4099]

I started with a Heatilator zero clearance fireplace in this house. Even had the fans. Total waste of money as it couldn't heat even the small living room. When I remodeled, I pulled the entire unit and found a charred spot on the wall behind it. Zero clearance, yep.

 

[CaseyForrest]

We had one in our fireplace. shell is still there as is the original vent, but its got an insert in it now.

When it was the manufactured firebox, it worked well. But it used alot of wood and most of the heat still went up the chimney. The fan is in the basement and thats where it gets its fresh air from.

To my understanding while I was trying to learn about it, they were used to eliminate the need to have a mason build an actual fireplace.

 

[NSMaple1]

We've got a Heatilator prefab in our living room.

It is an 'ambiance only' appliance. We might use ours twice a year, over the Xmas holidays. We would freeze if we tried to actually heat our place with it. The damper is simple - open it when you have a fire, keep it closed all other times.

 

[greenskeeper]

Anyone have any experience with these things? One is an open front the other has glass doors but both have a damper in the chimney operated by a lever that says heatilator. They also have vents around them but don't seem to have any fan that forces air through.

I'll include some pictures to help explain what I'm talking about. I'm basically want to get the most heat possible out of them, but I've always been a stove guy just moving into this place hoping to get by this winter and then look for inserts.

My first house hand a heatilator fireplace. Put an insert into it right off the bat, but when the entire fireplace heated up enough as a heatsink I'd turn on the heatilator and the air coming out would be noticeably warmer.

 

[ejbodwell]

Is it worth it to cut it out of there to put a regular wood stove in? Or should I try to run stove pipe up through it. It would be a lot of different bends


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[turnkey4099]

We've got a Heatilator prefab in our living room.

It is an 'ambiance only' appliance. We might use ours twice a year, over the Xmas holidays. We would freeze if we tried to actually heat our place with it. The damper is simple - open it when you have a fire, keep it closed all other times.

I lit off a fire one very cold winter day. Kept it firing at max all day but the thermometer in the room kept going down!

Fireplace - the most efficient waster of wood ever invented.

 

[greenskeeper]

Is it worth it to cut it out of there to put a regular wood stove in? Or should I try to run stove pipe up through it. It would be a lot of different bends


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First thing I did was cut out the flue damper with a grinder to make clearance for flexible stove pipe and I went from the top down to fish the pipe through the heatilator offset, then I stuffed a ton of un-faced insulation into the throat of the chimney. Worked great.

 

[bigwhiteash]

I used a heatilator fireplace for many years in my ex-house. Burned a lot of wood, but it made lots of heat. The damper is only to close off the flue when not in use, not to control draft. My house had an upstairs and once the convection was set up, it warmed the upstairs quite well..and you could feel a cold draft heading to the fireplace. I used a free standing screen in front to block flying embers. I would build the fire such that it would collapse into the fireplace as it burned down so no burning logs could roll out[!!]. Depending on the draw of your chimney, there will be some smell and soot in the long run, just comes with an open fireplace.
In theory, the cold air at the floor enters the lower vents and hot air comes out the top vents. Better than no vents I guess. Some small fans would probably help to blow the hot air or suck the cold air.
If you are going with an insert, an oval flue pipe at the bottom might get you there[might need to customize a bit], then double walled up top. Otherwise, you would have to cut away part of the steel[it's pretty thick material].
Good luck!

 

[bigwhiteash]

To add a little more..
My buddy saw my stacks and said "man, you need to get an insert!" Yeah, but I wonder how well a fireplace in the living room would work to heat the upstairs without that strong 'draw'/convection set up by the open fireplace?? Yeah, I know a LOT of heat was going up the flue, but I was skeptical and my conclusion was that, with an insert, the heat would be localized. With abundant free wood, I got by just fine. With a full load on, I got about 10hrs with enough coals left to start the next burn. My new house has a big 'ol stove and it is very local, heats the living too hot, the rest, meh..