Fireplace owners...

[Jayce]

So... we just bought a house this week. With the move-in day being in the middle of January (lol friday the 13th) I began to wonder what we could do with the fireplace we have. After all, there's always, well, burning wood, but I was looking for alternatives.

I've heard of people burning coal, but most say you need some sort of forced air flow in order for the coal to successfully burn. I have relatives that burn wood pellets, but in those scenarios they have actual wood stoves.

This is a straight up fireplace. Santa came down the chimney, etc. I'm just trying to be creative with some affordable (yet something that's maybe more environmentally friendly) ways of keeping the house warm with an alternative source other than oil. Is coal acceptable after all? Is wood pellets the money shot?

Anybody have anything to throw on the table? Thanks!

 

[Roark]

My mom uses wood in her fireplace, keeps the living room quite toasty and gives it that somewhat rustic smell.

I've also stayed in a house that uses a wood pellet stove which is also quite toasty with no smell, but like you said you need a specific unit for burning them.

My dad's girlfriend has a natural gas fireplace, not one of those natural looking ones with fake wood and whatnot, just a bar with maybe 30 small flames coming out of it. Looks really cool and there is no smell, but doesn't really heat at all.

In my fireplace I just have a couple of candles. I use central heat, so its more of an ambiance thing than anything else.

 

[patonb]

Without a retro fit, you're stuckwith straight wood.

I'd be leary to burn coal/pellets in it, as you said you need to get proper air. Plus unsure ow hot coal actually burns, so it could cause issues.

Oh and congrats on the house

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Coal will burn too hot in most fireplaces built in the last 30-40 years due to mortar not having to withstand as much heat.
In many areas it's also now illegal to burn coal unless you have active scrubbers cleaning the air.


You NEED, and I absolutely mean NEED to have the chimney INSPECTED with a camera, all mortar cracks REPAIRED and so on before starting a fire. You are honestly stuck with wood, seasoned hardwoods work best, you don't have to get a huge roaring inferno, just a nice fire to get some heat. When you have $5000-$10000 look to getting an ultra-high efficiency insert that will use wood, or wood pellets, or even gas if you want...

I was looking at fireplaces (a whole **** of a lot, anyone with my FB remember my face from replacing my old one?) and your best bet if you ever decide to go with high efficiency is one that seals up, can burn upto 8-12 hours on a few pieces of well seasoned wood, that has good thick firebricks, and also has a fan that circulates air around the bricks and pushes heat out into the living area. I thought about that, till I saw the cost of the stove, and even an install my self would run $5000, professional install around $7000-$10000

I had a modern firebox, replaced it with a newer style firebox with fans/doors and so on for around $1200, basically the same as an insert, but not as efficient since it don't have multiple burn zones, but you can only do that if you frame it in and have an opening large enough.

So yea, have an inspection of the entire thing done by a certified professional, MAKE SURE they use a camera to inspect your liner, the flue liner should not have any cracks at all, also make sure the flue cap is in good condition, and that you guys get the flue cleaned up just prior to inspection, unless you find a place that does both in one sitting.

 

[overlord20]

We took our fireplaces and converted them to natural gas. Much easier and keeps the two living rooms that each fireplace is in quite warm. Also wasn't that expensive.

 

[remixedcat]

I just use good ol fashioned wood logs and kindling and newspapers and ads. LOL

 

[Jayce]

We took our fireplaces and converted them to natural gas. Much easier and keeps the two living rooms that each fireplace is in quite warm. Also wasn't that expensive.

Do you recall round-abouts what it ran you to do that? I'm open to ideas. I just know we would blaze through logs when we'd go camping, meanwhile coal would last all night and still be burning red hot in the morning. That's the big reason I wondered about coal since I can buy it at the grocery store up the street. Wood... not so much.

I don't think it'll be too bad to use wood for now, actually. It'll just be 2 of us living in a house with quite a big extra space. The upstairs and basement is isolated from the main floor so as long as we keep certain doors shut I would think we could isolate the density of the heat within the main living area for now. Perhaps next winter things may change though.

 

[overlord20]

I don't remember the cost although my dad installed it all, and we just bought the elements which were like $200 a piece for the really nice ones. We had most everything else as my dad is a big shot electrician and acquires brand new hardware for free all the time.

Ares are similar to these: http://www.lowes.com/pd_30334-61993...ts&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo= but a bit cheaper.

 

[PP Mguire]

I personally think fireplaces are overrated. Most of the time if you only have one it will only warm up a certain area of the house and if the chimney isn't properly taken care of it can be a safety hazard too.

 

[mrnotu]

My buddy has a fireplace in his basement. He got an insert to go in it that has a wind box that is built on the inside of the insert. The wind box is connected to his duct work of his central heat and air and has a fan that cirulates the warm air. The insert is designed so that it is very air tight with manual vents. At bedtime he throws a couple logs on it and sets the vents and the logs will slow burn all night. His whole house stays toasty warm. I do not know about burning coal but I really like the way he has his set up. I have a small gas heater in the hallway of my house. It heats the place really well. Also I have another gas heater in the basement that I will run on a low setting and it will heat the floors so that even in the coldest weather you can walk around barefoot and your feet will not be cold. When the electricty goes off my gas still works. But I do spend about $750.00 on gas for the winter. Less than if I had electric heat tho.