bad fireplace

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Hi I a big fireplace it's a see through from the kitchen to the living room. It has a large firebox 40x25x30 and has a flue without a damper. It's very ineffincient. Glass doors did not help and those fire place incerts are cost prohibitive. was thinking of putting a wood stove inside(a small one I picked up for $20)to get more radiant heat. What do you all think will it work or do you have a better idea.Thanks Shaun

-- shaun cornish (shaun-terri@juno.com), March 05, 2000

Answers

Shaun, if there is a lot of masonry (brick, stone) around your fireplace, it will suck up a lot of heat before letting much radiate out into the room. However, if the little stove you bought fits, go ahead and stick it in. The hard part will be fitting the top of the stove pipe into the existing flue. You'll have to get up into the chimney and see what's there. It might have round chimney pipe in it, or it may be a large open stone or brick chimney. Since the stove you purchased is small, it probably uses a small stove pipe. If you have a round chimney pipe, you can buy an adaptor for it. If your chimney is masonry (square and large) you'll have to make or have made a funnel like sheet metal adaptor. Another possibility with a masonry chimney would be to run a regular chimney pipe up it. Be more costly, but if you can't do the sheet metal work to make an adaptor, that will be costly too.

The most MOST important thing is to get a good tight seal between the stove pipe and the chimney. If you can get that, and there's sufficient clearance in the fireplace to operate the stove, it should be more efficient than what you've got now. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), March 05, 2000.


Hi Shaun,

When I was growing up my father and mother had an open fireplace on two sides. (you could see through it. and it is big.) The fireplace itself was built as a divider for a den and livingroom. There was a door going outside in the den, and the front door in the livingroom. Man if both doors opened at the same time ugh the smoke.

It did not draw smoke well, and finally my father bricked it up in the middle with fire brick. inserted a draft and the thing now works like a charm. The backside he just keeps a silk plant in, but I am sure you could have other uses.

You have to be sure and block off the back side opening over the old fireplace, or it will not pull the smoke out.

He then inserted a fireplace insert, and the thing will run you out of the house with heat.

Hope you find something that works for you.

Beth (NC)

-- Beth (NC) (craig@icu2.net), March 06, 2000.


thankyou Beth and Gerbil. Beth it sounds like I have your parents house. Gerbil the flue in double brick all the way up with a smoke shelf: aprox. 3'x2' a friends daughters would sneak into the house that way i should be able to get a stove pipe down it. thanks again it was good of you to answer Shaun p.s. love reading your responses on this forum.

-- shaun cornish (shaun-terri@juno.com), March 07, 2000.

Shaun, am I understanding you? There was a girl playig Santa Claus with your chimney? Love it. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), March 07, 2000.

Gerbil, this is probably the first time I've disagreed with your advice.

I highly recommend NOT converting from a stovepipe directly into a chimney. While I have never done this personally, I have heard from many reliable sources that this will cause lots of creosote in the chimney, because the chimney will cool off the smoke so much. At some point all the creosot can cause the hottest flue fire ever.

I'd recommend getting your local wood heating store to confirm this; I think they will tell you to put the stovepipe all the way from the heater to above the chimney

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), March 08, 2000.



Hi - have a question. During a recent 14 day ice storm, we were without electricity and water. Due to my reading of "Countryside" and the adaptations I have made to the house, we were comfortable with a generator and with a good supply of water. BUT....I have two fireplaces...one, upstairs, is shallow and keeps the room fairly warm. But the downstairs fireplace is pretty...and USELESS! (sound familiar?) I am starting a research (my "mission" for 2001!) to find SOMETHING that can be inserted into the fireplace to either make it more effective (a non-electical blower??) or some sort of stove that would be able to heat more effectively (some sort of insert, I guess...that would fit the fireplace opening...). Any ideas? I'm really interested in what EVER you all have to say!! -- Thanks so much.

Ginny

-- Ginny Schumpert (gschump@hotmail.com), January 17, 2001.


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