Harman Mark II in the Fireplace

Hi,

I've been thinking about the idea Greg had of giving the MKII a try in the fireplace. I did a little measuring, and it would fit pretty easy, since mine doesn't have legs (I have it on two cinder blocks). Also, the stoves aren't too heavy if you take the bricks and grates out, and remove the doors. It would still be a PITA, but worth a try.

Anyway, what is available to adapt the 6in. round to something that will go up into the narrow, wide damper area? I've never tried such a thing before.

Bill.

You can probably get an adapter from round to oval or they make flex flue pipe in oval to fit up thru the opening, or you may have to take out the flue damper.

joespond wrote:'ve been thinking about the idea Greg had of giving the MKII a try in the fireplace.

Where is it now?

Thanks,

The stove is currently in the basement. I have 3 levels. Full basement, main floor, and upstairs loft, bedrooms. There is a cathedral living room with the fireplace on an inside corner and it is open up to the loft area. The two upstairs bedrooms are off each side of the open loft.

There is a large fan blowing the hot air from the stove directly up the basement stairs to main, and I disconnected a cold air return and two other ducts to allow cold air in the cathedral living room to drop into the basement to make-up the air I'm trying to push up the stairs. It actually makes for pretty even heat through the house, but the stove has to be Cranking to do it. When it gets down to 20 degrees, it just can't maintain 70 degrees upstairs. The propane furnace would still come on, although not very often.

I know I would use much less coal, obviously, if I had the stove on the main floor and ran it mellow, vs having it in the basement running full bore trying to heat everything. This is my first year trying this, so I wasn't sure how it would work. I think I want to try it upstairs as an experiment, but I'd rather leave my newly built fireplace and damper un-molested.(if possible)

I'd have to agree with Greg. Unless you need the heat in a finished basement, your stove would be allot more effective upstairs vented into your fireplace. (A little dustier up there but a better spot than trying to get heat up TWO levels)

If you go to a hearth store, or stove sales store, they have a fireplace damper/blocker with an ovaled 6" pipe through it.. Make sure you put a good wide fireproof floor under and in front of the stove,, you don't want a hot coal to burn your floor or flooring.. You can make a pad from cement backer board, and some tile pretty inexpensively..

Sorry that you aren't near that used Harman Elite insert,, it would be a good supplement to the basement Harman. But experimenting with little cash outlay is the way to go,, that way you can find out if it is worth paying $2500 for a new insert.. BTW, have you looked at and priced a Hitzer 503 insert??? I think they are about $800 less than the Elite..

Greg L..

I called the nearest Hitzer dealer in warren NH. The price is almost exactly the same as the Harman elite. Could be different elsewhere, but anyway I will try to set the MKII right on the hearth for now. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to try this. I'll see what I can get for hardware and take it from there.

I'll let you know results.

Thanks,

Bill.

I installed my Mark 1 on the hearth and vented through my fireplace/chimney. Great heat, nice centerpiece for the living room.
Your local stove shop will be able to fix you up with a kit that has the ss extension/damper block off. Do yourself a huge favor and get one that already has the 90 degree turn attached. The one I got was straight and I had to install an elbow. Kind of a pain.
The kit has a block off plate to seal up where the damper is now. Again, install is kind of a pain, but not as bad as the destructions make it look.
My $.02......head to HD or Lowes and find some nice bricks or pavers that match your hearth to mount that bad larry on.

Smart move.