Expert: James Ball - 12/8/2008

Question
I have a majestic gas fireplace and there is an immense amount of cold air leaking into the room.  It seems to be coming from the bottom vents. Is it easy to pull fireplace out and insulate heavily around it?  My house is about ten years old, the fireplace is situated on the mainlevel in the center of the wall and the duct for its air exits just above the fireplace to the outside.  Your help is greatly appreciated.  Thank you.  Matt Kovicak  P.S. Happy Holidays

Answer
Hello Matt, no it is not easy to remove just the fire box, I would have a local Certified Chimney Sweep (www.csia.org, there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have you may be able to open from the out side of the chase and insulate the chase not the firebox, that needs 2' minimum (check the manual) to combustibles.
James