Heatilator in old home doesnt circulate heat

[merskamp]

Hi there - we have a 2 story fireplace. The basement has a 50 yr old heatilator. We just had the chimney lined so that we can use the upper fireplace which is an open fireplace.
My question is the heatilator in the basement though - we made a fire tonight, we kept a crack in the glass doors but no heat came back out the vent above the fire or to the sides of the fire. As such I assume the heat just went up and out the chimney. Should there be an internal fan? I cant see either a switch or a fan but online reading makes me think there ought to be one but as the fireplace is 50 years old I dont know - all I know is the heat isnt circulating back into the room.

[hearthman]

Get a pro to perform a level II inspection.

[Chris87654]

What model Heatilator do you have? My label for a 3036 is inside on the right panel just above the opening. My unit doesn't circulate hot air back into the room - the openings pull air from the room to go around the firebox and chimney to keep it cool. It looks like room air should go in the bottom and come out the top, but it doesn't....

[jtp10181]

I doubt it is a "heatilator" brand fireplace. I doubt there is any "model" on it.

He is most likely talking about a "heatform" fireplace, often called a heatilator just like we commonly call tissue paper "kleenex" (which is just a common brand name).

Anyway, you have an open style masonry fireplace. Trying to heat a home with those is a joke. Any heat you manage to reclaim off a fan system or heatform vents is nulled by the fact that you are sucking massive amounts of air out of your house and up the flue. To replace all that air being sucked out, cold will leak back in around all your windows and doors throughout the house.

You need a pro to inspect and inform you of what you have and how it is supposed to work. If you want any real heat out of it, I would suggesting looking into wood inserts.