Insulating a drafty gas fireplace
MichiganHouse
| Posted in General Questions on
I have a very drafty and underinsulated 1990s-era gas fireplace in Michigan. It is an 8″ metal chimney that goes up past the roofline inside of a framed siding chimney. The fire box is made by Majestic. Any thoughts on how I could reduce air inflow and increase insulation in an achievable manner, preferably without removing the siding?
I’m considering converting this to an electric fireplace, so I’m open to ideas that are not compatible with burning gas in it any longer.
Photos below.
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Search and download construction details
Replies
The Tag is pretty clear nothing combustible can be within 1.5 inches of the flue pipe. You could make steel baffles to bridge the gaps and caulk with fireproof material.
Note the listed clearances for the fire box.
Walta
Part of the challenge is that I can't access the flue or the back of the firebox without removing the siding/sheathing covering the chimney, which seems like a huge amount of work. I was hoping to find some kind of air sealing solution from the interior, but I couldn't find any good solutions. Use of a chimney sheep and magnetic blanket to cover the front of unit has not helped much. I'm still getting frost on the black metal surrounding the doors around the edges of the blanket and lots of cold air blasting into the house.