Fireplaces

[lordkenmore]

Of course the furnace never breaks at 3 PM. Evil gremlins sit in the basement, checking the watch to see if it's the middle of the night, and then checking the outside temperature to see if it's cold enough to be a huge inconvenience if the furnace breaks!

 

I think it's more than a little scary the thought of the furnace breaking suddenly. At night, when one is home, is inconvenient. But what if the part acts up on a chilly weekend when one is out of town?

 

[lordkenmore]

Franklin stoves are an approach that interested me years back. Better efficiency than a fireplace (although supposedly not as good as sealed wood stove of that era), and the option of having it open to enjoy the fire. Although the value would only exist if one regularly used it as closed stove. Otherwise, one might as well just have an all-metal fireplace... (Or, of course, a stove with a window.)

 

[washman]

Not now

but back in Indiana, state of, we had a double wide that had one in the corner. It was mostly for show, you'd never dream of heating with it. We used it each winter mainly to burn up the piles of wood we'd cut in prior years when we heated with wood exclusively.

IIRC, it was in the family/tv room.

 

[vacerator]

Panthera,

and yes, I agree, but let's hope that train doesn't wreck in the tunnel again!

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Bonus Pic's: Typical AW.org & P'nty Fan!!!!

Well, here are the only pics o' my fireplace that seemed to make it to my new computer & were probably taken w/ my new camera (the old one fell & broke two times: 1) daughter dropped it, spent $100+ to have it fixed 2) "Fat, Drunk & Stupid" took a selfie of himself being two, out of the three--retired it after that...) --and I had pulled them off of Facebook:

 

I have probably not burned a single log since then, back a great number of years--just too much work to clean the fireplace out (have a half-a-box o' starter logs & some kindling) and I don't care for the heat from the furnace to go up the chimney (it has a good damper, which is shut) nor for it to be by only heat source (it's in the den & I'm ready to nap & relax in the bedroom, though I'd just got up--well, almost two hours ago I took my daughter to school & my wife just left) either...

 

 

-- Dave

 

[vacerator]

Well anyone

can tell that drawing is an old belt drive Whirlpool. Ring toss on the toes?
Back in the old days, we had to pull pallets down the alleys from the trucks to the store stock room. In winter, my feet to got so soaked once, they were calling me cheesy feet.

 

[sudsmaster]

Two FP in this '41 home. The one in the living room is original, complete with massive painted mantel and smart looking narrow glazed brick fronting. I stuck a vintage insert I found on Craigslist in there - it barely fit but it managed. It keeps the room warm but not so much the rest of the house (it's single story).

 

The second story is in the remodeled (circa mid-70's I think) second bedroom turned into family room contiguous with kitchen area. It's got that distressed brick facing, including mantel, floor to ceiling. I put another old insert in that one - it's an interesting one, with articulated glass doors and a nice long squirrel cage blower. The more modern design seems to fit the fireplace design better than an older one might.

 

However, I haven't lit either one up in two winters now. Too busy, I guess, plus one must keep track of the "no burn days" in this area. But as soon as I clean up the clutter around them I'm planning on getting one or the other or both going for atmosphere. 

 

My favorite FP insert is the LOPI brand, but they can be a bit hard to find.

 

[davey7]

My fireplace provides no real heat (which is good with steam heat) and has excellent draw as I'm about halfway up my building, but it does provide great atmosphere on dreary days and at parties.

 

[gusherb]

Is this the building built in the late 20s? That radiator looks like it's at least from the 50s if not newer, looks more like a steel baseboard style unit with a tall cabinet (to produce a strong stack effect and pull more air through the convector) 

 

[verizonbear]

Ventless Gas Fireplace

I have a ventless gas fireplace in my basement bar area, works very well makes the basement warm and cozy, no issues with fumes, love it.

 

[lordkenmore]

Stumbled across this. Malm apparently still makes metal, freestanding fireplaces in the US. One offering:

 

The Lancer

Free-Standing Fireplaces, wood and gas burning that add warmth and beauty to any home

www.malmfireplaces.com

 

Since it's all metal, it might have better heating value than a "standard" fireplace...although, of course, wood stoves would be much better.

 

[firedome]

thanks to PhilR

we just got this Drolet made-in-Northern Quebec (they really know their woodstoves up there!) woodstove: efficient, has glass doors for viewing the flames, and of course can be opened up for more ambience, if one has a good hearth and is willing to sacrifice some of the heat. But with 11 ac of mostly hardwoods, efficiency and cost of wood is not a huge factor!

We once lived in an 1852 all brick 3 story house with 7 fireplaces: Parlor, DR and 3 BRs for heating, cooking fireplaces in basement and kitchen, the latter 8 ft wide x 5 ft tall and 3 ft deep with a pot hanger. They all drew really well since they knew how to build them then, but were horribly inefficient at heating. Inside one wore a lot of warm woolen clothing during the winter because we depended mostly on the ancient and huge oil hot air furnace that did keep us very warm but guzzled oil at a truly amazing rate... hence our next house was new, well insulated, and had 90% efficient hydronic heat.

 

[sudsmaster]

I retrofitted both fireplaces in this house (1941) with inserts with blowers. I got both inserts for about $50 each off Craigslist. They are not hard to find; a lot of cities and counties around here require converting to gas if a major remodel is done to an existing home.

Both do fairly well at heating the rooms they are in (living room and family room). But the other rooms, not so much. Still, it's ample ambiance. One drawback are the frequent "no burn" days where wood fires are prohibited for air pollution reasons. Consequently I've accumulated quite a bit of firewood here, from just chopping down trees I planted here and there. This weekend a major rain storm is predicted so I could probably light up one or both fireplaces.

 

[lordkenmore]

a lot of cities and counties around here require converting to gas if a major remodel is done to an existing home. 

 

I'm not aware of any requirements like that in my area (Western WA) but then I don't know the ins and outs of current codes/policies for major remodels. But I have to wonder if wood burning fireplaces might not one day be banned or at least heavily regulated. (There are sometimes burn bans at times here when air quality is a concern.)

 

There is a ban on older wood stoves in the Tacoma area. IIRC it's illegal to even own a woodstove that's not a newer EPA certified design. (The demands removal or permanently disabling the stove.) The only exception is when the stove is the only heat source. That apparently requires special approval. Note this stove ban applies to any stove--not just a sitatuion where someone decides to do a major remodel. You have 1980 family room with stove and that stove is no longer usable, even if the room is 100% 1980 down to the light bulbs in the ceiling fixture. (That area of Tacoma was a huge headache for air quality, so that may be why the rules are so strict.)

 

[mayguy]

Back and forth..

I really cringe when people has ventless fireplace/heaters. WAY TOO MUCH trouble waiting to happen.. I am glad they are banned here tho.

We own a '68 split level home, and has two fireplaces upstairs in the living room, and one downstairs in the family room. They are both the basic brick fireplace, that has fire brick walls inside, and no vents, so really no heat comes out of it other then the radiant heat.

The dampers has seen better days, and fire bricks are starting to come out on the fireplace in the living room, and we no longer use that one. I got insulation in it when we dont' use it to cut down on the heat loss up the chimney.

We do use the fireplace downstairs time to time for the mood, power outage and I would love to use it for heat as I grew up using the fireplace for heat in the late 70's. *Later on got a wood burning furnace to heat the whole house.

The back and forth part, our chimney has seen better days as well, but it's needs attention before something does happen. we are agreeing on taking the fireplace upstairs out as we don't use it, and also eats up a lot of space that we can't lay out the living room around another way. As for the fireplace downstairs, Hubby wants a gas downstairs, and I want wood again.

His point, gas can flip on and off when needed. No hassle of starting it/carry in wood.

Mine, I always grew up with wood, and still love it.. A local place sells wood pretty cheap, so cutting not a big deal. Cleaning up the ash don't take that much work! I like the sound, smell, and look of a real fire, where gas is "always the same" and about every people I know, I hardly EVER see their gas fireplace going??? I do know a few other who has wood, and that's going. What if we used up all of our natural gas? What if we are with out gas in the winter? I think burning wood is better for our eco system.

 

[sudsmaster]

SF Bay Area Fireplace Regulations

In July of 2008, the Air District passed Regulation 6, Rule 3: Wood-Burning Devices to reduce fine particulate matter air pollution from wood smoke.

Don't Burn Wood during Winter Spare the Air Alerts
Under this regulation, it is illegal to burn wood, firelogs, pellets, or other solid fuels in your fireplace, woodstove, outdoor fire pit, or other wood-burning device on days for which the Air District issues a Winter Spare the Air Alert.
The Winter Spare the Air Alert season runs from November 1 through the end of February.

Check Before You Burn
Call 1-877-4NO-BURN
Check the Winter Spare the Air Alert status on the Spare the Air website home page and on www.baaqmd.gov.
Sign up for e-mail EnviroFlash AirAlert notifications.
Sign up for automatic phone call alerts online or by calling 1-800-430-1515.
Local radio and TV news media will also carry announcements.
Residents whose dwellings have no natural gas or electrical service, or whose only source of heat is provided by wood burning, are exempt from the Winter Spare the Air Alert wood-burning restriction.

Other Conditions of the Rule
Beginning November 1, 2016, no wood-burning devices are allowed in new buildings constructed in the Bay Area. Gas-fueled fireplaces and logs, gas inserts, and electrical fireplaces are okay. Prior to November 1, 2016, the only wood-burning devices allowed in new construction are EPA-certified wood-burning or pellet-fueled devices.
Beginning November 1, 2016, Bay Area residents who begin a chimney or fireplace remodeling project that costs over $15,000 and requires a building permit will only be allowed to install a gas-fueled, electric or EPA-certified device.
The rule also places year-round prohibitions on excessive chimney smoke and the burning of garbage, plastics, or other harmful materials in fireplaces and woodstoves. Residents and businesses should burn clean, dry wood in short, hot fires with plenty of air in order to reduce air pollution from smoky and inefficient fires.
Firewood suppliers are required to appropriately label their wood as “seasoned” or “unseasoned." Seasoned wood has a low moisture content and burns more cleanly than unseasoned wood. Here is the latest information about the labeling requirement.

Activities Not Prohibited
The rule does NOT (a) completely ban fireplaces and wood stoves or completely prohibit wood-burning in the Bay Area, or (b) require the replacement of existing fireplaces or wood stoves when a house is sold.
Here is more detailed information about how to comply with the Air District's wood-burning regulation.

Exemptions
There are some exemptions to the wood-burning ban during Winter Spare the Air Alerts. These are discussed in this Exemption Guidance Document.
Effective November 1, 2016, recent wood-burning rule amendments require anyone whose sole source of heat is a wood-burning device to utilize an EPA-certified or pellet-fueled device that is registered with the Air District for an exemption from the burn ban. An open hearth fireplace will no longer qualify for an exemption.
Fires for cooking are not prohibited during Winter Spare the Air Alerts, but we ask the public to be mindful of air quality, and recommend the use of gas and propane barbecues rather than wood or charcoal-fired cooking devices on these days.

Wood Burning Rule

www.sparetheair.org

 

[davey7]

Convector

GusHerb - oversized replacement convector. Original buried in the wall. I currently have NO radiators in my unit (anymore, removed the last one). Heating is all concealed steam convectors except in bathrooms where it is convective chase with large diameter steam riser and return. It's the Trane Concealed Heater system. My plan is to restore the original living room setup eventually, but there are too many more urgent projects in the way, wiring, etc.

 

[lordkenmore]

Interesting Craftsman (Gustav Stickley/Arts & Crafts era not Sears!) fireplace from early 20th century in a Craftsman publication that's on Archive.org. A prefab metal unit that could supply warm air to rooms other than the one the fireplace lived in. I wonder how well this fireplace worked... I wonder if many were sold, and how many of those might survive, too.

 

Link #1 is reasonably fast to open, but some pictures don't appear for me.

 

https://archive.org/stream/morecraftsmanho00sticgoog#page/n212/mode/2up

 

Link #2 for downloading the PDF. I found the pictures worked fine. (There is also a download PDF button on the page that link #1 opens).

 

https://archive.org/download/morecraftsmanho00sticgoog/morecraftsmanho00sticgoog.pdf

 

Fireplace is on PDF page 213 (page 198 on the page of the original publication itself).

 

[sudsmaster]

One fireplace insert design I really admire is the Lopi. They are generally convective and don't need electrical power to warm a living space. I've seen older ones that look fantastic after many years of use.

 

And they are still being made.

 

 

http://www.lopistoves.com/product-detail.aspx?model=301

 

[lordkenmore]

This weekend, I did some cleaning/rearranging of the living room, and now have my own fireplace! It was quite a project getting all those bricks, and building it. And I honestly thought that the floor might collapse at one point. (Later I learned most people have the fireplace foundation in the foundation area of the house. Live and learn, I guess.) LOL

 

OK...no bricks. No real fireplace, either. But I set up a set of electric logs I have with an Ikea Lack-style end table. It sort of looks like a possible modern fireplace. To my eyes, it's less awful looking than those $60 Home Depot electric fireplaces. Although I think the electric logs would probably look better in either a real fireplace, or else a well designed fake fireplace.

 

A couple of photos. One is well lit, and the other is in a dark room (and IIRC no flash) to show the glow of the "fire".

 

Still, it amuses me for the moment...