Fire place, source of heat or source of work?

[Wyoming53]

I've got a nice fireplace. Rock, pretty good sized. Has a inner wall cavity with a fan and I can turn on the fan and it brings air from a vent at the bottom of the fireplace to blow nice warm air out the top. Nice concept, just didn't work like advertised. haha

So in the past, I've used the fireplace as a nostalgic type of ornament. In the fall, might put a log or two on for a nice pleasant evening with a friend and a couple glasses of wine. But certainly can't heat the house with it.

I've also kept a lot of wood handy in case power is knocked out, I could use it for emergency heat, but only for survival.

However, I've been busy the last 10 days or so. I decided to make my house energy efficient. Here's what I did.

All light fixtures have Florescent now. The ones that look like curley fries.
Water heater blanket.
Insulated all pipes to and from water heater.
Insulated all pipes under the house.
Silicon sealed all seams on outside walls.
Hung tarp from floor joice to floor joice. Then blew it full of insulation.
Blew insulation into walls.
Blew approximately 30 inches of insulation into attic.
Installed programmable thermostat.
All new windows.

Now that that's complete. The fireplace is a different tool. This morning, it was 32 outside. (Furnace is shut off). I put a couple of small logs on the fire and I've noticed that they burn a lot slower. Plus, they warmed the house right up to mid 70's and it's comfortable in here. I have been burning wood but it burns quick and won't warm the house, only a small area right around the fireplace. But now, the whole house is warm.

Anybody else getting good results out of a fireplace? Anything you do special?

[Panterro]

I made a fire place Wyoming.. its purely for show. Its all part of the living room redo, I am doing here at my grandmothers house.. even though it was willed to me and my aunt, I still think of this as her house. Anyways.. I will take some snap shots and post them on here for you to see. Oh I set it up to use candles inside, and I want to put glass tiles on the back and sides to add some glow when the candles are lit.

[Wyody]

Many years ago, 53, I was living in Michigan. Winters are generally cold, damp and drafty.
There weren't too many different options at the time - inserts hadn't yet been invented (or, introduced anyway), wood-stoves were still comparatively archaic ... but they all still worked out better than a fireplace - and we had a huge fireplace.
The notion at that time was that a fireplace requires a lot of air to operate - and so, totally choking-down the air-supply had an adverse effect on heat from the fire. As it was, I could stay warm within 30' of the fireplace - which meant only half the living-room stayed warm! Then came the "drafty" part which meant only about 15' in front of the fire stayed comfortably warm. I had knotty-pine panelling on walls and ceilings which helped with the "warm vibes" but would also creak & snarl upon temperature changes ... so, with a half-warm living room and about 20 lakefront windows, the upstairs of the house was a freaking cacaphony of sounds! I swear, it sounded sometimes like the neighbor was starting his kick-start Harley!
What they have done since then with woodstoves and wood-fuels has been nothing short of amazing to me - and I only know a little about what they've improved on fireplaces - but I'm still a "woodstove for heat, fireplace for romance" type - the dog always loved me more with the fireplace burning.

[Wyoming53]

Before, I would burn up an arm load of wood in about 30 minutes. Now, I can get about 4-6 hours out of an armload and it's keeping the house at about 70 even.

[PDXnative]

Get an insert if you want to use your fireplace for heat. BTW, nice job on making your house more efficient. We just had new windows installed last week. WOW, so much quieter and warmer. Wish we had a fireplace or woodstove.

If you want to make sure you did not miss anything, you can have a pressure test done on your house for pretty cheap and they will show you were there is any leaks.

[Wyoming53]

Originally Posted by PDXnative

Get an insert if you want to use your fireplace for heat. BTW, nice job on making your house more efficient. We just had new windows installed last week. WOW, so much quieter and warmer. Wish we had a fireplace or woodstove.

If you want to make sure you did not miss anything, you can have a pressure test done on your house for pretty cheap and they will show you were there is any leaks.

Oh, they did a pressure test and that's why I got all new windows. haha

Everybody keeps mentioning insert. I'm not sure if that's any different then what I have. My fireplace is a big rock fireplace but it's all metal where you build the fire. It's metal and then has a cavity under and in back where you can turn on a fan and it pulls air underneath the blows out the top. So I think I've got what you are calling an insert, but not sure.

[PDXnative]

Here are some photos of fireplace inserts. I have no idea who this company is, they just have lots of pictures :)

Fireplace Inserts - Free Shipping - EliteDeals.com

[Wyody]

53! Over here! Shhhhh ....
When we was still young, before they even invented the word "Yuppie", some ol' cowboy got wind of those "inserts" they were working on - and before ya know it, a whole bunch of folks had one of those systems you have - or so it sounds ... can't recall if they called it a "heatolator" or if they called it anything at all - but some ol' hands started putting them in their fireplaces.
Inserts have become a way of converting your fireplace to a heat-wood stove ... can't feel the fire. Usually can't feel the heat. They're very focussed on being environmentally near-perfect and ... well, they work but something is all wrong - it's like having a fire on your TV screen. Looks good though.
I personally think a few sparks keeps the dog on 'is toes and just a titch of creosote-wood smell offers that rustic nostalgia that we've come to know so well.

[Wyoming53]

Originally Posted by PDXnative

Here are some photos of fireplace inserts. I have no idea who this company is, they just have lots of pictures :)

Fireplace Inserts - Free Shipping - EliteDeals.com

I think that's what I already have. I mean, mine is all metal lined (it's not the rock around it) and it's got the inner chamber with a fan built in to circulate the warm air around. Sounds good, but if power is out, ain't going to be much fan. haha

But yeah, I believe that's what's in there. Glass doors to close when not in use.

[Curious George]

Hear is a pick of the fireplace I installed myself some years ago in the basement , it is a insert an draws burning air from outside an circulates room air in from the bottom an out above the doors I also have the farinas intake in the ceiling in front of the fireplace so I can run just the fan on the furans to move air around the house . the only thing I wish I had done was got the option for gas , that way I could have the gas burner going to light the logs , a lot easer then a blow torch pine cons an paper!






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[Wyoming53]

It's 38 degrees, raining, and the wind is howling. After everything we did to the house, my furnace just kicked on for the first time. So I'm guessing that all the insulation really helped. By the way, furnace is set to 67 degrees. Only kicked on for about 2 minutes.

[Wyody]

Last time I lived over at Riverton, 53, I helped a fellow insulate under his well-skirted MH (manufactured home ... trailer).
His home sat on rez-land by the airport - up on an exposed hill.
He's got a large home. The first winter after I did that, his heat almost never kicked-on - even at 20 below and colder in the hard winds. Before, the bill had been crippling-ly major.
I'm thinking you did the right thing.

[Wyoming53]

I think I did the right thing. The house is 22 years old and having been in construction and remodel I know how insulation can settle. I've been wanting to do it for a couple years but put it off because my gas and electric bill has run so cheap. Yeah, I say that out loud. But when you have a 1600 sq ft home and in the dead of winter in Wyoming your gas and electric (one bill) only runs $154 for the month, you tend to put off major rework. haha

But with the rising fuel costs and the predictions of $100 a barrel before end of year, I figured now or never.

And no Curious, I'm not changing the truck out. I last filled it up in June and I can just see the full mark. And yes, I drive it regularly.

[Wyoming53]

When my dad had his house built in the Black Hills he installed a Franklin Stove. You know, one that sets out away from the wall. When he put the chimney pipe in it was tri-walled. Then, up by the ceiling, he took the outter wall and plumber 3 three inch pipes. One running to each bedroom, one running to the bathroom.

Then he put thermostats in each room and connected the thermostats to computer muffin fans mounted in the pipes. So if that room got cold, the thermostat would kick the muffin fan on and draw heat from the stove.

He burned about 4 cords a year is all. He lived there for 15 years and it worked like a champ the hole time.

Course, the living room was warmed simply by the radiant heat off the Fireplace.

[Wyody]

I remember getting the Franklin so hot it was all bright, glowing red. Water in the pan had all steamed away and we didn't dare set another pan on - would've cracked the stove right there - probably would've exploded. Had to simply let it burn and hope ... and all worked out fine. Didn't make the mistake of overloading it again - thank goodness there was no coal in it yet (usually put one-lump in at bedtime and it'd still be aglow at 4am re-stoke).
53, there are so many tips on wood-heat ... and you seem to know most. I know some. A few folks around here probably know some as well. Does TalkStates sponsor publications? Is it time for a money-making venture? Is it time to explain to city-folks why you'd want some oak with your apple? Is it a good time to explain why, if pellet-stoves work so doggone good, why it has become nearly impossible to find pellets?

[Wyoming53]

Here in Sheridan, pellets are easy to find. Even Home Depot carries them now.

[Wyody]

that's good news. There was a factory down in Salt Lake. What I "heard" was that they were with-holding, going for the bigger bucks - making it so you'd have to go to some retailer - like Home Depot - to buy your pellets ... destroying the "cheap pellet" world that came before.
I've never used them myself - but I've seen some dandy stoves with the forced-air heat that just toast the room, garage, house, whatever - with thermostatically controlled heat - and they do it on few pellets.
I've not been among the "wood-burning" crowd for some years now - although I smell it a lot this time of year - so, rely on the information of old wood-heads like you!

[Wyoming53]

Darn sure got a fire going tonight. It's 9pm. Temp is 3. And it's dropping.

Wonder if I should plug in my 4 wheeler?

[Wyody]

Feed the mule some survival-whiskey and Ho, Ho, Ho!!