Hello; Talked to a wood stove person today & he informed me that I could not install a High Output Harmon Wood Insert into my existing interior wall masonry fire place. Fireplace is rock solid - probably only had a few fires ever burned in its 50 year life - damper has just a slight coating & the flu sections are very clean.

I guess the problem is that my hearth is red hearth tiles installed on top of a wood surface & he claims that hearth must be minimum 6 inches of cement & extend out 20 inches from front edge of insert. Opening of fireplace is a full 4foot opening & is deep.

Wonder if anyone else has ran into this problem? Would a smaller insert be the way to go & if so what would be a good brand to go with? I thought maybe I could put down a double layer of 1/2 inch cement board & install fire brick ontop & then shim up the insert where it lays inside the firebox - he of course said no way .

I probably could go with a pellet insert but would much rather go with a wood insert as I have much wood available.

Any Ideas? Anyone?

Thankyou

Sonny