Fireplace Question

[ijustwishi]

I am living in a house built in 1901. In the living room, instead of a normal wood fireplace, there is a gas heater fireplace insert made by the Ray-Glo company. There is very little information on the tag minus the name of the company, cleaning instructions and the state where it was manufactured. After searching the web, I have come to the conclusion that this heater almost positively was not put in until, at the earliest, 1920. My question is, does anyone have any information on the Ray-Glo company, and more importantly judging by the pictures...do you guys think that there is a normal wood fireplace behind it that has been tiled off? If it helps, directly above my living room in the master bedroom...you can seen in the cracked plaster the outline of the fireplace. If you need any more information, please feel free to ask!


PS-I have gone down to the city records office, all they had on file as far as blueprints and things go, was a bill of sale that simply said "one house built in the usual way" haha. They have no blueprints or anything that might possibly show what was originally there.

[junkout]

dont see any pics but what size flue does it have that would be a good indicator

[ijustwishi]

Wow, can't believe i forgot the pictures haha






As far as the size of the flue, I have no idea. I would be happy to find out if you could tell me how.

[downtowndahlgren]

What a beautiful fireplace! As far as the inset, it reminds me a lot of those used in typical English homes. BTW, do you have NG or LP gas? If you have LP, the insert may not have been vented at all - a lot of then older ones were not.

[triguy128]

I think it looks really cool. I'd totally keep it. I'd open it up and see if it's open the the flue. Otherwise, I'd try and figure out how to retrofit a newer gas valve with millivolt flame proofing switch. Both common parts found on ALL natural draft gas appliances like water heaters and such. Really a water heater gas control valve would work just fine except you'd have to either jumper out the aquatstat or figure out a good mounting location.

[PowerMuffin]

WOW! That is a beautiful insert!
Diane

[junkout]

the easiest way to check is to go to top of the chimney or try to pull out the insert the dimensions of what might be the fire box look more like a coal fireplace than wood but hard to tell with the insert there or it is possible it was meant for gas all along. in this area it definatly would not have been gas but i dont know your area

[Don M]

By 1901 fireplaces were passe; since central heating was all the rage. I agree that a coal firebox is most likely what you may find if you pull the insert. I like what you have there it looks like a quality insert & seems to fit the opening well. Certainly explore further but I would keep it if it were mine---& could make it work safely.