Now we have 4 m3 firewood piled up, and it's 33º and end of June, it's time to take steps for the new stove. Engineer Jansen really likes the Metalfire Optimum inserts. There are two versions, a 70cm and a 90cm wide version. The 70cm should suffice for our heating needs, but big is beautiful, and an Optimum 900 would be... nice. The price difference is minimal.
Find out if it would fit the existing mantle: make a hole to access the interior for measurements:
Ladrillo
The casing is made of ladrillo, ceramic blocks, 7cm thick.
Inside
Odd, no insulation anywhere. Yes, that is a concrete pillar at the back. It shoild have been insulated from the stove! Bad!
Measurement
The Metalfire 900 is 904mm wide, installation specification tells you to surround the stove with plates of Silca T300, 5cm thick. So, minimum width is 1004 mm. The inside of the casing is 92cm. So, an Optimum 900 does not fit.
That is disappointing! Asked Metalfire if an air gap between stove and wall of 1 cm would suffice. It won't, they say. No idea if ceramic ladrillo really cannot withstand the heat. Will find out. Else the engineer will have to accept an Optimum 700.
