Wood burning fireplace for heat

[Chapap]

For about the past decade, their heat pump didn't work and they relied on a combination of the "emergency" heater (electric heat coil in the evap unit) and the fireplace. Being in Florida, that combination was plenty enough to keep the house comfortably in the 60s. I'll have to ask when the last time they had the chimney cleaned. I do remember they had it swept when they bought the house. The fella said it was a missive chimney. He used his largest brush and did half the chimney at a time.

Would it be good to run a chimney pipe inside the chimney? I've seen insulated 10ish inch tubing used to make chimneys. That way there's zero contact between smoke and brick.

Edit: Oh never mind. Looks like that's what you're talking about with a chimney lining. I was picturing some kind of membrane glued to the walls of the chimney.

 

[franklin2]

Yes, a insulated liner works very well. Most insurance companies like for you to have one. The insulation keeps the liner warm, that keeps the smoke from cooling and forming the cresote. I have a old stone chimney which was not lined, and when I moved in the insurance co. required me to have it lined, block the chimney off so it could not be used, or no house insurance. I bought a insulated flexible stainless steel liner and put it down through there myself.

I have burned it lightly two years now, next year I will need to get up there and see what it looks like. It's best to get the chimney cleaned as late in the summer or the fall as you can. This leaves most of the year for any cresote to dry up and it easily flakes off either by itself or by a light brushing.

As far as heating the whole house, you can do it but you need to sit some fans in strategic positions around in openings and doorways. They can be very small fans or the larger box fans. They usually sit in the floor, so for them to make the biggest difference, you need to point them toward the warm room with the stove. Since they are sitting on the floor, they are pushing cold air, so push that toward the stove (not on the stove directly unless you turn them off when loading wood). If you do that, you can hold your hand up high in the doorway and feel the warm air going into the remote room, as the fan is pulling out the cold air on the bottom.

 

[Josh B]

I set a fan behind the stove to blow the hot air above it across the room.

Anything with a fire inside it will burn fresh air, which will require its source to be from the outside

 

[franklin2]

Anything with a fire inside it will burn fresh air, which will require its source to be from the outside

Most houses are leaky enough to where this is not a problem. A very tight modern house it could be and you might have to crack a window. My house was built in 1921, but I can still have smoke problems when it's not very cold outside, and my wife turns on the clothes dryer. The clothes dryer and the woodstove compete for the air leaks.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

As a rough rule of thumb, most traditional fireplaces that burn wood are good only down to the 20s (degrees F) before the amount of heat going up the chimney is more than the heat you get inside the house. Below the 20s you actually lose heat.

The Franklin stove was considered a big advance 250 years ago because it could keep a typical room then at 50 degrees F. By the standard of the day, that stove was miles ahead of a fireplace.

Just putting it into perspective. You should consider most fireplaces to be decorative, good for not much more than roasting chestnuts during the holidays.

 

[Chapap]

As a rough rule of thumb, most traditional fireplaces that burn wood are good only down to the 20s (degrees F) before the amount of heat going up the chimney is more than the heat you get inside the house. Below the 20s you actually lose heat.

The Franklin stove was considered a big advance 250 years ago because it could keep a typical room then at 50 degrees F. By the standard of the day, that stove was miles ahead of a fireplace.

Just putting it into perspective. You should consider most fireplaces to be decorative, good for not much more than roasting chestnuts during the holidays.

Well maybe this thing is more effective than I think it is. This house is designed quite well for winter. Thermostat is upstairs with bedrooms, fireplace is downstairs along with HVAC intake. Temp in the the 30s for an extended period and even I need a sweater if there's no fire going. I'd say the heat pump and fireplace are both good for raising the temp 20 deg each. There's no way the house would have been "warm" during this past 3 days in the teens. Now that I think of it, I think the thermostat is set to run the fan at least 50% of the time (or so) to keep the upstairs and downstairs more evenly temperatured.

But yes. The fireplace is 90% decorative. heck I've caught them with the windows and doors open cause it wasn't quite cold enough for a fire, but they were in a fire mood.

 

[Josh B]

The 1st thing to get is a carbon monoxide detector, not sure if that's already been covered.
There is no such thing as being "too careful" with any kind of flame producing heater. but there is nothing much better when it gets really cold than a wood stove

 

[Josh B]

I remember the house we had here, it was just like all the other 4 room square farm houses built in the 1920s or before. I have a door and some of the siding in an upstairs storage area and most of the tin off the roof on an old shed my father and I built when we moved back here

In the center, where all the rooms inside corners butt together was a brick flue up through the attic and out the top. Its walls were rotated 45 degrees to the others, giving each room a flat spot in the corner, allowing heat to reach each room. It was designed not for a fireplace but simply a place for the wood stove pipe to go'
It wasn't a lot but allowed each room to have at least a hope of some heat.

If I remember correctly the kitchen (wood) stove was in that inside corner also

 

[ekrampitzjr]

I remember the house we had here, it was just like all the other 4 room square farm houses built in the 1920s or before. I have a door and some of the siding in an upstairs storage area and most of the tin off the roof on an old shed my father and I built when we moved back here

In the center, where all the rooms inside corners butt together was a brick flue up through the attic and out the top. Its walls were rotated 45 degrees to the others, giving each room a flat spot in the corner, allowing heat to reach each room. It was designed not for a fireplace but simply a place for the wood stove pipe to go'
It wasn't a lot but allowed each room to have at least a hope of some heat.

If I remember correctly the kitchen (wood) stove was in that corner also

I live in what was considered a "manufactured home" (like a Sears home) when it was built on my street just over 100 years ago. It has the same arrangement for woodstoves where the room corners come together as you describe. A couple of other houses on the block are the same vintage and built the same way.

 

[franklin2]

You never heard of chimney fires much back in the old days. No insulation in the drafty old house means they fired those old stoves hot. And they used old cast iron stoves that were not sealed and could not be shut down all the way, unlike the more modern welded steel stoves. Not much chance for cresote build-up in those old setups.

 

[Chapap]

Anyone have any idea about the anatomy of this fireplace. This is in a house I hopefully just bought. It's in a interior wall and the chimney sticking out the roof is brick if that's pertinent info.

I talked to my uncle who is a volunteer fire fighter about chimney fires. He said that beginning of winter is when the fire dept cleans people's chimneys. People just don't sweep them cause the fire dept puts the fire out and cleans up for free. Interesting tactic.

 

[sgtsandman]

Anyone have any idea about the anatomy of this fireplace. This is in a house I hopefully just bought. It's in a interior wall and the chimney sticking out the roof is brick if that's pertinent info.

I talked to my uncle who is a volunteer fire fighter about chimney fires. He said that beginning of winter is when the fire dept cleans people's chimneys. People just don't sweep them cause the fire dept puts the fire out and cleans up for free. Interesting tactic.

Beyond theory, no. I do know that it is recommended that the chimney be cleaned once a year at a certain time of year for the best results. The build up is fully dried and faking at that time. Running a brush through is supposed to pretty much knock everything off and into the fireplace if done right.

 

[Chapap]

Beyond theory, no. I do know that it is recommended that the chimney be cleaned once a year at a certain time of year for the best results. The build up is fully dried and faking at that time. Running a brush through is supposed to pretty much knock everything off and into the fireplace if done right.

Any idea if:
-that is an insert, or is it just a fascia around the firebox?
-there such a thing as a "modern" fireplace that aren't all brick... just a brick firebox and metal chimney pipe up to the roof?
-there are decorative chimneys that are made of wood with a brick veneer like the rest of the house?

 

[don4331]

Any idea if:
-that is an insert, or is it just a fascia around the firebox?
-there such a thing as a "modern" fireplace that aren't all brick... just a brick firebox and metal chimney pipe up to the roof?
-there are decorative chimneys that are made of wood with a brick veneer like the rest of the house?

My house has a wood burning fireplace, so I can burn any mistakes/remnant of my wood working hobby.

There were "modern" fireplaces that weren't all brick 25 years ago when I had house I'm in built - a brick firebox and metal chimney pipe up to the roof

As the chimney is an insulated metal pipe, it is enclosed with same chip board and vinyl siding that the rest of the house is. If your architecture was brick (or faux brick) you could have that as well.

 

[franklin2]

Any idea if:
-that is an insert, or is it just a fascia around the firebox?
-there such a thing as a "modern" fireplace that aren't all brick... just a brick firebox and metal chimney pipe up to the roof?
-there are decorative chimneys that are made of wood with a brick veneer like the rest of the house?

The only way to know is to get up on the roof and if you have a cap, take it off and have a look. You have brick so;

1..If you have a really old house, you will get up there and look and all you will see is brick and mortar on the inside of the chimney. That would make it a old unlined chimney and if the insurance company has any say in it, they will not let you use it unless you get it lined.

2. You get up there and you have brick, but then you have this orange looking clay pipe sticking out. This is a chimney lined with clay flue liners. They still use those today. The only thing to look for is if they have been overheated and are all cracked up. All you have to do is clean this type every year.

3. You get up there and find you have some sort of metal pipe inside the chimney. This is a more modern stainless flue liner, usually a retro fit to a older chimney. These work well. Make sure when you clean these you do not use a metal brush, use a bristle type brush. A metal brush will scratch the pipe and make the cresote more prone to stick.

Your chimney being in the interior of the house is the best to have. That keeps the chimney warmer, so it doesn't build up cresote as had as one on the outer cold wall of the house.