Electric Fireplace Insert

[jasonsim]

The chimney in the house I am renting has a crack and cant be used, so I want to install an electric LCD screen with heat.
I don't see an easy way to get power into the fireplace. There is a basement that runs underneath the fireplace and there is two receptacles on their own circuit in the basement that currently are not used and one is close.
Im a little worried about drilling through the stone. Anything I do I will have to fix when I move. I don't plan on moving any time soon.
Is there a better route to get electricity into a fireplace?
The property manager has been very nice to me and has told me I could fix up the place and he would take money off rent. I don't want to do any up grades/ changes that I cant undo.

 

[GoldDigger]

There is not an ash hatch in the floor of the fireplace?
Surface wiring, e.g. Wiremold from the wall into the firebox either at the base of the fireplace or just below the mantle is an option.
You can drill through the mantle or hide the wiring behind a temporary facing board extending the mantle down.

 

[charlie b]

I just had a propane-burning insert installed in my fireplace, replacing a wood-burning insert. The old insert had a cord that came out of the side (i.e., visible inside the living room) to run the fan. That cord was plugged into a receptacle outlet located on the adjacent wall, a couple inches to the right of the fireplace brick. I hired an electrician to tap off of the existing receptacle outlet and install a new outlet within the fire box. It is now out of sight behind the new insert. In preparation for this installation, I cut away a section of the drywall surrounding the existing receptacle. The electrician used a large drill to put a hole in the side of the brick, thus opening a path for a conduit to be run from the existing receptacle to the new receptacle. The drilling only took a few minutes. Since the new receptacle is permanently mounted and is fed by an approved wiring method, I will not have to change anything if I were to sell the house.

There was an option to drill upwards from a crawl space. I think that would have taken longer. But the drilling process and the permanent mounting of the new receptacle would have been about the same.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

We do many gas inserts and we always drill through the firebox into the crawl at an angle. This is easily fixed if the insert is remove with some mortar mix.