Jøtul GF 160 fireplace installation, part 3: Electrical

The whole reason we're installing our Jøtul GF 160 ourselves came down to venting. In the estimate we received, I noticed the dealer spec'd galvanized ducting. I’ve never seen a black fireplace installed with galvanized venting, which is why the DuraVent also offers it in black. When I questioned the dealer, the response I got back was they can only source galvanized, but can spray paint it black for an additional charge.

I replied I’d handle sourcing the DuraVent materials.

That same invoice had spec'd everything we'd need. All 4 x 6-5/8 venting, I was able to find a kit of black venting with everything we needed at Northline Express. Bonus: it was cheaper because I was ordering it direct and not paying the dealer's surcharge.

The next estimate had removed all the venting supplies along with—somewhat to my surprise and admittedly a little relief—the installation. "Self-installation" was noted on the top. Alrighty then, I told K, we'll figure out how to install a propane fireplace! 

Here we are…

For $900, supposedly they'd have installed it for us. How good of a job they'd have done for that price we'll never know. What we do know is we'll do a better job. Guaranteed.

Take the electrical, which was certainly not included. Like the couple of real-world (i.e. not Photoshop'd by Jøtul or a dealer photo where the stove isn't actually hooked up to anything) photos we've found online, they'd have run the stove's power cord to the nearest outlet. It would have looked like this:

Janky power cords are no bueno. We want this to look, ironically, professional.

Instead, I tapped into that nearby outlet and ran a new cable under the floor right next to the gas stubout. It was super-simple. We wanted it to look clean so I opted for a single, recessed receptacle in a brass circle housing to match the brass circle gas flange.

To access the outlet and run the cable to the opening I had cut in the floor required me to remove about three feet of sheetrock and sheathing behind where the baseboard will be. Worth noting: I added nailing plates to all the vertical joists in the wall where I ran the electrical cable.

Of course, the baseboard will then hide the cutout I made. In no time, the cables were spliced. While I was at it, I also punched a hole where we relocated our television on that same wall in order to hook up an outlet and other A/V cables behind it for a much cleaner look.

To keep the A/V cables accessible in case we need to make changes, I simply cut a half inch off the bottom of the sheetrock behind the baseboard. They tucked in nicely.

For the Jøtul's recessed outlet, it was a simple matter of drilling another hole in the floor and making the connections. Oh, I also sawed an inch off the ridiculously-long housing tube. 

I couldn't hook up the final connections for our gas line until this outlet was ready. With it in hand, I was able to cut the holes in the bamboo flooring for it and the line.

At last I was able to reinstall the flooring and finish up this part of our installation. K made us coffees. Her latte art is legit!

Both receptacle and stubout are tucked behind the rear leg of the GF 160 and on the side we won't really see. Regardless, it's clean and looks sharp. Yeah, much better than the dealer installation would have been. No extra charge.