remove pre-fab for hand fired coal stove

hello, i'm attaching a picture of my pre-fab fireplace that came with the house. From what i've been told, i can not put a coal insert in,, and this "fireplace" is a waste...it just sucks heat out of the house. so what i was thinking is just tearing it out,, tearing out thet entire hearth, fireplace, the enclosure,,,then just put a small hand fired stove where the fireplace is,,remove the existing chimney pipe and replacing it with the proper ss for coal,,,, i guess my question is can i do this? good idea? any other suggestions? and finally does anyone know of someone who could do the work? thanks everyone!

Hi Niawatch, I had he same thing in previous life and you are right they suck. The existing pipe is probably 3x wall for zero clearance fireplace inserts and is pricey, you could probably trade with it or sell it outright. I understand s.s. pipe is also expensive so why not open up the wall, if it is an outside wall with a wooden chase on the exterior you could insulate and sheet rock the inside walls of the chase and use black stove pipe up to the cieling...just my 2 cents.

Do you have a block chimney there on the outside of the house?

michaelanthony--thanks i will probably end up doing that,,if the cost to do it doesn't bankrupt me,.

freetown,, no , unfortunately no outside chimney.

thanks guys

freetown fred wrote:Do you have a block chimney there on the outside of the house?

Fred, They usually build a wooden chase up an outside wall simular to an outside chimney, and use triple wall pipe connected to the zero clearance fireplace. That is what you see in a condo complex, everyone has a pretty fireplace, p.o.s. Rule of thumb in realestate, sell to the wife and guy is just along for the ride. hehehe!!!

michaelanthony wrote:

freetown fred wrote:Do you have a block chimney there on the outside of the house?

Fred, They usually build a wooden chase up an outside wall simular to an outside chimney, and use triple wall pipe connected to the zero clearance fireplace. That is what you see in a condo complex, everyone has a pretty fireplace, p.o.s. Rule of thumb in realestate, sell to the wife and guy is just along for the ride. hehehe!!!

This scares me as I drive around and see all the new housing complexes going up with "fireplaces." If you look closer, they aren't chimneys at all but direct vents. I'm willing to bet that a lot people don't know the difference and will try to use them during a power outage. Yeah, I know "they've been told" during the purchase process but did they listen and learn. I think not. I think we are going to end up with some seriously sick or dead folks if a long term event like what's going on in the Northeast happens.

Niawatch, I ran into the same thing at my sister's house. I took an coal/wood insert I had gotten for a smile 4oo miles only to be told it couldn't go in her fireplace. It was old so she ended up selling it for scape. As for your set up I would think you could make the modifications you suggest and put in a real chimney pretty easily. It would seem to me that you are not messing with anything structural. Check out nepacrossroads.com/about389-495.html for a lot of different possibilities; several members have exposed black pipe running ceiling to stove or black pipe to the wall. Good luck, Lisa

I really do need to get off the hill more often & check out all of this new fangled crap.

I'll be politically correct on this one.... Those GD gas stove inserts are over 3000.00 just for the stove....piping, framing, a dummy chimney; siding, cap, and a lifetime? SS chimney. Horse manure. If you did a real double flue chimney...forget the fireplace you would be at the same final number. How many folks would trust that setup 10 years later, hell 2 years later! Stay on the hill Fred, it's safer up there. I've been against these 'fireplaces' for 25 years. I'm being polite here, if you want to know my true feeling, zip off a PM to me!!! Oh, Fred, Dr Phil said, buddy, you need f***ing help! My retort was and is: I AM THE GUY THAT IS HERE TO HELP!!! Straight Talk.....it's what's for breakfast today!

Hey Fred, can you help me with the smoke signal alphabet? Beats the hell out of a cell phone...except on overcast days....