By Barry Stone
Dear Barry,
My 1983 mobile home has a built-in fireplace which looks nice but doesn't produce much heat. Several years ago, I installed an insert so that I could heat my home with wood. But now I'm wondering about the expected life of the smokestack in a mobile home. Do you think it may be unsafe from prolonged use? -- Mary
Dear Mary,
The safety of your smokestack became questionable the moment you installed the insert. The manufacturers of prefabricated fireplaces forbid the use of wood burning inserts in their products. Unfortunately, insert manufacturers who insist that their fixtures can be safety added to manufactured fireplaces have clouded the issue. If we seek to determine who is right, we may be asking the wrong questions. Where disagreements involving fire safety arise, the wisest approach is to err on the side of caution. Thus, the fireplace manufacturer's warning not to install a wood-burning insert should be taken seriously.
Your fireplace and chimney were originally designed, tested, and approved for maximum specified exhaust temperatures. Since wood burning inserts are designed to burn hotter than fireplaces, the chimney temperature safety limit may be exceeded when you operate your insert. Furthermore, any unapproved alteration to the original fireplace design voids the manufacturer's fire safety warranty.
For these reasons, you should consult the fireplace manufacturer and have the installation evaluated by a qualified fireplace contractor or certified chimney sweep.
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