r/homerenovations • u/Old-Discipline-2802 • 17d ago

Fireplace Question

My fireplace was having some issues, so I called a guy to check it out, and used a carbon monoxide detector and found that it was showing like 15-20 ppm coming from the fireplace. He said I should change the fireplace, but that’s just crazy expensive.

I wanted some help on like roughly how much would changing a wall inserted natural gas fireplace cost? I’m genuinely clueless and online shows no prices.

Also, is 15-20ppm dangerous? Like online says dangerous is 100-200 ppm, but the guy said it should say zero. I wanted to be safe but I don’t want to take unnecessary precautions.

Any help?

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u/WavyCyanescens 16d ago edited 16d ago

If its emitting any CO it is just a matter of time before it emits more and more. You can easily die from running that appliance. Any level of CO indicates a major problem and immediate hazard to your life, id not shut down by the tech they can lose their certification.

Do not run it, for the sake of your life and familys life. Do not mess around with CO. Get a 2nd professional opinion but do not run it until its cleared. But trust me there are not many old fireplaces around someone would risk their ticket, or your life on to say its fine. Chances are they'll agree with the previous tech and hand you a bill.

Chances are Firebox is cracked, gasket on glass in poor condition, or retention system for the glass is stretched and no longer seals. Or if itss natural draft it could be chimney or negative pressure related. IE the more bathroom fans that run the more it will spill products of combustion into the dwelling.

it will cost you more to fix than it would for a new one. Ive shut down hundreds of fireplaces in my career, and even saw the aftermath 1 retired firefighter died on Christmas eve because his landlord didnt agree there was a fireplace problem(landlord convicted of manslaughter actually)

. id much rather a homeowner mad at me and alive, than dead with it on my conscience and loss of certification & likely jail time.

And a fireplace insert is usually anywhere from 3 or 4k to upwards of 7k for big ones. Ive installed double sided zero clearance models that were 13k