Wood burning fireplace for heat

[Eddo Rogue]

My double wide has a "fireplace". which I think is a wood burning stove of sorts. Maybe it has that liner thing or is all metal, because I burn most winter nights, and don't get much creosote.

The house isn't very big, or sealed, or occupied...so the fireplace keeps it warm, if I keep it going. It eats a lot of wood. Besides that a little space heater for the bathroom.

It probably helps that temps rarely drop much below 40'sF here.

I really like fireplace heat. it feels better and is way more soothing than central heat. Sometimes I open the doors and let the house get cold so I can warm it back up with the fireplace. Its been helping me get through a tough time this winter. Very relaxing experience chopping up the firewood and building up the fire. Visitors love the wood burning fireplace as well. Its rare here. The temp variance is nice too. I like my bedroom a little colder than the main living area, so the fireplace heat spread works out perfect.

suddenly realized how simple and ideal for me this place is setup. I should fix it up a bit, show some love.

 

[franklin2]

My double wide has a "fireplace". which I think is a wood burning stove of sorts. Maybe it has that liner thing or is all metal, because I burn most winter nights, and don't get much creosote.

Cresote formation has more to do with the type of wood you burn and if its very green. Green wood doesn't burn very well, doesn't put out much heat, and builds a lot of cresote in the chimney. And you can have different amounts of moisture in the wood, creating more or less cresote.

The problem is, if you go out and cut a live tree, its going to be as green as you can get, and the wood will not be fit to burn until a year or more later. There are no hard and fast rules, wood from a dead tree will take less time to dry out. And the type of tree will make the drying time more or less. Suffice it to say, planning is everything, you have to cut a year earlier to burn now, and what you cut now you burn next year.

 

[Roert42]

They do make specific “fireplaces” for mobile homes. The rules are completely different for them.

Also, most newer file place inserts don’t need to be installed in a brick fireplace. They just need to have a certain amount of space from the housing of the metal fireplace and any combustible. It’s 100% possible to have a wood burning fireplace without any bricks, outside the fire brick inside the stove.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Cresote formation has more to do with the type of wood you burn and if its very green. Green wood doesn't burn very well, doesn't put out much heat, and builds a lot of cresote in the chimney. And you can have different amounts of moisture in the wood, creating more or less cresote.

The problem is, if you go out and cut a live tree, its going to be as green as you can get, and the wood will not be fit to burn until a year or more later. There are no hard and fast rules, wood from a dead tree will take less time to dry out. And the type of tree will make the drying time more or less. Suffice it to say, planning is everything, you have to cut a year earlier to burn now, and what you cut now you burn next year.

That makes sense for everything I burn is quite old and dry. Anything fresh gets stacked up and sits awhile.

I burn mostly pine and oak, sometimes eucalyptus or unknown. I have a ton of 1x3 scraps from work that I cut up for starter sticks. They have creosote but I don't use much, they burn great!

 

[Ranger850]

@Chapap , I don't know how I missed this thread for so long, BUT I cleaned, installed and removed Inserts/wood burnering stoves/chimnies for about 15 years in North Florida. IF you still need help or assistance let me know. I didn't really read everything either.

 

[Ranger850]

I have no idea how it’s installed, but it’s had two decades of fires in it so I guess they did it right. The fan does work and it heats very well, but the box has to get scalding hot for it to put out significantly hot air. It doesn’t use outside air for combustion, but it has adjustable lovers at the bottom. We have them adjusted all the way closed so one load of wood lasts all night. We can pack it full and there’ll only be a couple smoldering sticks in the morning.

Here’s a pic. Anyone have any idea what it is?View attachment 86879

Definatley an insert. You could possibly pull it out completely and just have the fire place and be done with the hassle.

 

[Shran]

That makes sense for everything I burn is quite old and dry. Anything fresh gets stacked up and sits awhile.

I burn mostly pine and oak, sometimes eucalyptus or unknown. I have a ton of 1x3 scraps from work that I cut up for starter sticks. They have creosote but I don't use much, they burn great!

Old dry wood with a high sap content will burn really hot and you can potentially get a lot of soot buildup in the chimney from them too. Commonly referred to as "pitch logs" out here... you have to be really careful with them in wood stoves because they burn so hot. They are almost always from a pine tree but spruce trees or anything with needles can do that too under the right conditions.

They are kind of a funny thing, usually I find them in places where there was a forest fire years ago that burned hot enough to kill the trees by removing the bark but not hot enough to burn the wood. They stand for a few years and weather and then fall over...and basically just sit there for decades. You would think they just look like an old rotten log but the gray wood is just surface deep, the inside will look like a live tree and it's rock hard. They make excellent fence posts, way better than treated wood!

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Old dry wood with a high sap content will burn really hot and you can potentially get a lot of soot buildup in the chimney from them too. Commonly referred to as "pitch logs" out here... you have to be really careful with them in wood stoves because they burn so hot. They are almost always from a pine tree but spruce trees or anything with needles can do that too under the right conditions.

They are kind of a funny thing, usually I find them in places where there was a forest fire years ago that burned hot enough to kill the trees by removing the bark but not hot enough to burn the wood. They stand for a few years and weather and then fall over...and basically just sit there for decades. You would think they just look like an old rotten log but the gray wood is just surface deep, the inside will look like a live tree and it's rock hard. They make excellent fence posts, way better than treated wood!

Yes it burns hot and fast...also the fireplace is kinda small and has a huge flute. Drafts blows through noticeably if I dont shut the flap when not in use. The ash all over my living room on a breezy day indicates its still clear lol.

There was a bunch of that stuff after the fires of 2017. I did use some as fencing and landscape borders lol. burned pretty good too. There's still remnants laying around up there.
Not sure what kind of trees they were seemed liked pine but less dense and more of a twisted pattern.
I been meaning to look up native trees to my area.

 

[sgtsandman]

I try to keep my firewood on a two year rotation. I don’t have a fireplace but well cured wood makes a big difference for fires in the back yard and cooking fires while camping. Very little is left but ash when the fire burns out.

 

[Chapap]

@Chapap , I don't know how I missed this thread for so long, BUT I cleaned, installed and removed Inserts/wood burnering stoves/chimnies for about 15 years in North Florida. IF you still need help or assistance let me know. I didn't really read everything either.

They really don't have a problem with it. I was just curious about these things really.

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.

Post 26 was supposed to be accompanied by a pic, but I guess I forgot to upload it. I think I fixed it. I'm assuming this chimney is all brick from the slab to the top. I can't imagine the roof framing being able to support a decorative brick chimney on top.

 

[Roert42]

I understand that charring the outside of lumbar makes a very good weatherproofing.

I've even heard of it being used for old piers to keep them from rotting while submerged. I can't remember where I heard that though.

 

[Ranger850]

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.

Not much info in that pic due to the glare on the glass. VERY NICE though!! If you get a chance, poke your head/camera in the box and look/point up. That's where all the important stuff is. From the damper, there should be a working lever to open/close the flue. There should be a shelf on the backside to catch all the ash/soot that's left over after the fire dies. It shouldn't have a pile of anythiing. If it has a round metal tube, and no bricks are visible, you're ready for gas logs. But that's a completely different can of worms. Long story short, it should be cleaned before you move in. Especially in Florida, ppl tend to think cleaning isn't necasssary until their house burns down.

 

[sgtsandman]

I understand that charring the outside of lumbar makes a very good weatherproofing.

I've even heard of it being used for old piers to keep them from rotting while submerged. I can't remember where I heard that though.

That is a thing. It works with most wood but the better rot resistant the wood is before the charring, the better the results. There are several sites on the subject and which woods are best. I know cedar is a good one but there are others. Some better.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

My parents old house had a fireplace upstairs that we never used and a Franklin stove in the basement that we used all the time in the winter. It was easy to get that cooking away, get over 80* in the basement and the heat would migrate up the basement steps and all and warm the house enough the furnace wouldn’t kick on. It was piped out through the wall and up the side of the house in metal.

Their new house has a Heatalator fireplace. It’s a new house fireplace. Has a blower and cold air intake. Has the double wall pipe up through a false chimney on the roof that’s covered in brick veneer. It’s set in the wall between the house and garage (one bay is full of house stuff and one bay has dad’s prize truck, so not useful to me, lol). The blower was turned on exactly once. Within a couple minutes of lighting the blower off we had all the doors and windows open as the temperature skyrocketed past 100* inside the house. Apparently the house is well insulated.

When I get to building my house, I’m intending to set a large stone chimney as close to the middle of the house that I can make work. Not sure on exactly construction yet, but concrete, stone, something like that to soak up heat and radiate it into the rooms. Basement level I’m thinking some sort of fireplace insert on one side and a pellet stove or something on the other. Stove will be used as supplemental heat to the house as needed, fireplace more for entertainment because on that side will be the bar and pool table. First floor will get a fireplace or wood stove for the living room.

Wood plays an important part. Pine and other sap-laden woods are bad choices. They burn hot and quick, produce a lot of soot and creosote, and are prone to “popping” which can launch hot coals out of a fireplace. Oak, Ash, Hickory, and Maple are all good choices. Cherry is nice, but tends towards popping. There’s lots of firewood charts and information out there. As has been mentioned, green wood isn’t good either, best to split and season at least 1-2 years. You can actually buy a moisture meter and test the firewood if you want to be really precise. One of the big dumb things I see around here is places are selling “seasoned” firewood that has been run through a commercial firewood processor and left in a giant heap for awhile. Maybe they stirred it around with a loader a couple times. That’s not properly seasoned. To properly season, it has to be split and stacked up off the ground with good air flow all around (preferably no more than 4’ or three rows wide) and covered on top from rain. This allows the wood to dry, wet wood when two pieces are knocked together will make a dull thunk, dry wood will make a sharper ring. Oh, and a running cord or face cord is 16” long pieces that are stacked 4’ high and 8’ long. A full cord is three of those, which when stacked together make a 4’x4’x8’ pile.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Oh yes, since woodpiles have come up, here's a public service announcement.

Snakes love woodpiles. Especially the kinds of snakes you don't want around. Be careful around the pile and when handling wood from it.

When my family lived in a residential neighborhood in southeastern Virginia about a quarter mile from some mudflats, my dad would find the occasional snake in our woodpile. Often these were venomous water moccasins.