I had a problem with my fireplace, when the embers were dying out there wasn't enough heat in the flue to keep the draft working so smoke would billow out of the fireplace. This was a huge problem. I saw the reviews on this grate that said it helps smoke problems. It absolutely did. I let the embers burn completely out and the smoke went up the chimney with no problem, not a bit of smoke in the house. The price was worth it for that alone but it also increased the fire heat output, even when the fire was out it continued to radiate heat. This worked way beyond my expectations. I don't know how it works but it does.Be advised it is extremely heavy, I put it together and set it by myself but 2 people would have worked better.I highly recommend this fire grate!!!

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Excellent grate at a really great price. About half or less $$$ than the name brand version. I looked and looked at the name brand version but could never justify the price tag, who could? They priced themselves out of consideration.For this size grate and fire-back it would have been around ~$500. That's just not reasonable to me. Even for a clever or good design. It does still fundamentally amount to about 60lbs of shaped steel and some hardware.The grate wall of price hikes, the grate and just fleecing of the American public... The grate exploitation...oh my aching back.The physics principles at work here have been known since the inception of the wood burning fireplace! Bring the fire back and up higher for more draft, a taller burn, a better more complete burn, a burn that produces more heat and/or throws more heat out into the room. This is nothing new. The classic Rumford fireplace is designed to achieve these same gains.People forget or aren't aware that as uncomfortable and inefficient as it sounds (and it is both uncomfortable and inefficient to the nth degree along with a whole host of other undesirable drawbacks) at one time in history fireplaces were the main source of indoor heating. We quickly learned how to optimize their performance.But back to this grate. It works well. It is very sturdy and heavy. I had trouble placing it in the fireplace by myself. I'm surprised the Amazon delivery guy carried it up to the front steps, it's seriously heavy. I would guess about 80lbs but whatever it says for shipping weight is probably correct.I purchased the larger sized grate. 26" wide and about 15.5" tall. This is a larger grate than I thought. My fireplace is large, it is the largest standard size for a conventional fireplace measuring 48" or a full four feet across. Even so this grate is perfectly sized for it. My fears of it being undersized given my large fireplace were unfounded. So the large sized grate is quite large, ( I know I know who would have thought?) so be aware of this and purchase yours accordingly.Really unless you have quite a large fireplace, consider going with the smaller version. But the big version is also excellent. Sturdy, large and heavy duty are terms that come to mind. I can fit a lot of wood into the grate. Almost more than you would want to put in at one time. Be aware of this and don't build fires that are too large, especially with dry hot burning hardwoods. You will probably be fine doing that but I personally don't want an incredibly hot fire rushing up my chimney given creosote or chimney fire concerns.I recommend having your fireplace inspected and professionally cleaned of creosote before using this style grate. The fires burn hotter and puts more heat up the chimney. Shouldn't be an issue but something to keep in mind.The grate hardware was OK. Bolts holding the grate to the fireback were adequate. The ones holding the legs were loose allowing the leg some wiggle room. I tightened well and it was still loose, didn't want to strip it out. I wasn't crazy about the bolts, bolt holes and threads overall but I'm sure it's fine as an assemble once type of thing and as for the slightly loose leg I doubt it's going anywhere too soon.The grate itself is seriously heavy duty so is the fireback. At first I thought the fireback could be a touch taller but it's actually perfect. Any taller and there would be clearance issues in my fireplace.Keep in mind there is a flat bar of 3/4" square steel which rests on the floor of the fireplace and supports this grate/fire-back. You will need this area in your fireplace to be flat for best results. On my fireplace there is an ash catcher with an access door that interfered with the placement of this fireplace grate. The grate simply rests on the ash catcher at present. But the small thickness of the ash catcher access door is making the grate less stable and not quite level.Something else to keep in mind if you have an ash catcher access hole and ash catcher access door OR a gas fireplace starter pipe, etc in your fireplace.I was able to work around my interference issue and the grate and fireback fit nicely.The fireback protects the delicate firebrick of the interior of the fireplace. Didn't notice it throwing off too much heat but it's nice for protecting the firebrick and mortar.A fire with this grate does throw more heat into the room. But it's not a night and day difference from a traditional grate. All the same more heat is thrown further out into the room, it is a noticeable difference.The logs self feed the fire conveniently. Burn times seem extended. It seems like a more complete burn too because the logs are sort of funneled into the fire so you get less of the little unburnt log leftover you sometimes find in the morning.Draft is much improved. No smoke in the house ever with this grate. Before sometimes plumes of smoke would occasionally come out into the room especially on start up. My fireplace always drafted reasonably well but I did notice it was even better with this grate.It's a little more difficult to start and establish a fire with this grate. It takes a little more tinkering and maybe a different approach than a traditional grate. It's also more difficult to actually add firewood pieces since you have to sort of reach into the fire itself and place it in the "basket" of sorts formed by the fireback and grate.Not a big issue for me I keep welding gloves by the fire for this purpose.It appears cleaning up the ashes from around the grate will be difficult. Not sure how I'm going to do that perhaps by investing in an ash vacuum. The grate is heavy enough taking it out to clean ashes is out of the question.OVERALL really nice functional efficient fireplace grate and fireback. I like that it is combined with the fireback. I like the price and functionality is great. It is seriously well built both the grate and fireback. It fits perfectly in my fireplace, almost like they knew what they were doing when they designed this thing. Even with hot fires of Cherry Apple and Oak firewood I have no concerns of warpage. It throws out quite a bit more heat than a traditional grate it also burns the wood more efficiently. It seems to extend burn times as well since you can place a few pieces in the grate and it will self feed them into the fire. IF YOU HAVE DRAFT ISSUES TRY THIS GRATE these vertical grates draft much better than a traditional flat grate.The bolts i didn't like much but you could weld this grate together if you were ambitious. The bolts hold fine but just seemed a little chintzy. Looks to be a pain to remove ashes. The area near the bottom of the grate is pretty wide it tends to fill up with ashes and then the grate doesn't draft quite as well. Ususally I just poke the ashes out of this area occasionally. Kind of wish the grate didn't come to quite such a wide flat spot at the very base but not too bad and does work well with larger firewood.No serious complaints or issues at all with this grate. If you're in the market for a vertical grate and fire-back no need to hesitate buy this one or the smaller version if applicable.See attached photo for size and fitment. Note the width of my fireplace opening is 48". The depth is around 22" and the height is around 32".I forgot to take any photos before installing in fireplace, sorry.The dimensions given for this grate appeared to be accurate but I was still a bit surprised at how large it actually is. Not dissapointed though and it fits perfectly.Photos taken and review written on 4/21/2021Cheers and thanks for reading!

I like it, I was hoping for more heat, I guess my fireplace is better than some of the other reviewers.

I bought this because our fireplace seems to always have backdrafts and make the room smokey. The next morning after a fire, the house always had a good chance of smelling smokey. A few fires in, and boom, it's really an enjoyable experience having a fire. A bonus is that the fireplace makes a ton more heat because of the reflector and the orientation of the fire. It takes a bit more to get it going, but once it is, it's very easy to add wood, and it is super warm. My fireplace is 29 inches across the back, (which looks like about every MCM fireplace from the 50's-60's) and the biggest I could find was the 26" version of the grate. It works fine, and I wouldn't want it to be any bigger. I mightconsider having the back reflector be a little taller ascetically, but it was perfect in operation.The box arrived a bit damaged, but it weighs a ton, and it's basically a bunch of solid steel, so it didn't matter or affect assembly. One tip, you need two people to maneuver it into position in the fireplace. It's just too awkward and heavy to do by yourself. Really really love this product.Update: After probably a cord of wood and several months of use, I still love this product.Update update: Dec 2019 and I still love this product. I only wish the fireback part was taller. Totally love this.

This is a must have for your fireplace. It has made staring a fire so much easier and it really does push more warmth into the room. The design just makes sense. There is ample air flow which makes start up easier and reduces smoke drift. The hot coals from the top logs settle on the lower logs and get them started. After about 30 minutes the backer is nice and hot. It radiates heat for hours after the fire has died down. My old grate system used to drop logs out of it. This ones keeps everything tidy and I have not had any issues with run away logs. In my picture with the thermometer, the house was set to 68 and the fire was about 30 min old. Outside temp was 40 and the thermostat was 8 feet from fire. It will eventually work its way to about 80. This never happened before this item implemented.