There are a few things to keep in mind with the height of your opening. For instance, most fireplaces will have additional height once you get past the initial lip. Once you get through the opening, generally a fireplace will have a flue or a chimney that will vent gases to your roof, and therefore there is additional height behind the opening. With our insert, the top 10” inches are meant to be framed or trimmed over. It does not need to be visible.
Therefore, you can sit our fireplace insert back several inches, where there is more height to accommodate the insert. The viewable area is 28” inches by 22” inches and will most likely not obstruct the fire effect. You can then frame in around the insert to make it look like a built-in.
Keep in mind that in a real fireplace the logs are generally set back into the opening and are not flush with the front. This would look exactly the same with our insert. If you can tilt it, and fit it into the opening, then you can enjoy a very realistic fireplace experience without the mess. Take measurements and check the height behind your opening to verify if it will fit. If not, you can consider using a brick mason or contractor to increase the size of your opening as needed.