Fireplace Inspection gone bad....need new fireplace

[Ashful]

Here we go... not the paper I was thinking of, but contains many of the same numbers.

Wood stove make-up air requirement: 10 - 25 CFM

Minimum air changes per hour for healthy air in a house = 0.33 ACH
More typical house leakage = 0.5 to 0.6 ACH
Moderately sized 3000 sq.ft. house with typical 8' ceilings = 24,000 cu.ft.
========================================================
Minimal healthy house leakage @ 3000 sq.ft.: 132 CFM
Typical 3000 sq.ft. house leakage: 200 - 240 CFM

Scale according to your home. Still think you need an outside air kit???

http://woodheat.org/the-outdoor-air-myth-exposed.html

 

[milleo]

Here we go... not the paper I was thinking of, but contains many of the same numbers.

Wood stove make-up air requirement: 10 - 25 CFM

Minimum air changes per hour for healthy air in a house = 0.33 ACH
More typical house leakage = 0.5 to 0.6 ACH
Moderately sized 3000 sq.ft. house with typical 8' ceilings = 24,000 cu.ft.
========================================================
Minimal healthy house leakage @ 3000 sq.ft.: 132 CFM
Typical 3000 sq.ft. house leakage: 200 - 240 CFM

Scale according to your home. Still think you need an outside air kit???

http://woodheat.org/the-outdoor-air-myth-exposed.html

Oh Oh! The big oak or no oak debate is back....

 

[Wood Duck]

I don't know anything about the fireplace you are looking at, but I'd say make sure you are putting in a legit, EPA approved largish fire burning insert that could heat your house, at least in an emergency. You are investing enough money that you should end up with a backup or emergency heat source in addition to a place for a cozy fire.

 

[Goater32]

Ok so went with Fireside Hearth and Home. Complete tear out install of fireplace and new chimney air intake and framing and drywalling the wall and hearth. Ended up going with the Heat N Glo Northstar. Don't think I will be dissappointed. Thanks for the help and I'll upload some pictures when it is in on the 2nd. Going to finish with stone in the spring, make sure everything is working properly and all. Thank you again.

 

[TMonter]

Here we go... not the paper I was thinking of, but contains many of the same numbers.

Wood stove make-up air requirement: 10 - 25 CFM

Minimum air changes per hour for healthy air in a house = 0.33 ACH
More typical house leakage = 0.5 to 0.6 ACH
Moderately sized 3000 sq.ft. house with typical 8' ceilings = 24,000 cu.ft.
========================================================
Minimal healthy house leakage @ 3000 sq.ft.: 132 CFM
Typical 3000 sq.ft. house leakage: 200 - 240 CFM

Scale according to your home. Still think you need an outside air kit???

http://woodheat.org/the-outdoor-air-myth-exposed.html

An OAK can also help with situations where you have hard start-ups and such with a cold chimney. If you're doing a new stove and have access why not spend the little extra and do a OAK?

 

[Ashful]

If you're doing a new stove and have access why not spend the little extra and do a OAK?

For one, there's some chance it could make matters worse, if located on the leeward side of the house on a windy day. In my case, always living in old stone houses, it's a matter of not wanting to put another hole in a 200 year old stone wall.

 

[TMonter]

For one, there's some chance it could make matters worse, if located on the leeward side of the house on a windy day. In my case, always living in old stone houses, it's a matter of not wanting to put another hole in a 200 year old stone wall.

You do have to weight pros and cons but if you install the OAK with the right setup like a still air box or baffle you should be able to prevent most wind related problems. As for core drilling stone, I completely understand that reason. I think the rule of thumb I would use is that if it doesn't add significant cost to the install it's worth doing.

 

[northwinds]

Ok so went with Fireside Hearth and Home. Complete tear out install of fireplace and new chimney air intake and framing and drywalling the wall and hearth. Ended up going with the Heat N Glo Northstar. Don't think I will be dissappointed. Thanks for the help and I'll upload some pictures when it is in on the 2nd. Going to finish with stone in the spring, make sure everything is working properly and all. Thank you again.

Look forward to seeing the pictures.

 

[Goater32]

Alrighty it's in. Installers were here till 7pm last fri. Fired it up and the heat didn't run all weekend. The room it's in got a little toasty (78-80) while the rest of the house was right around 73 or so. Couple questions after burning....On start up and when I let it go out the firebricks and glass get pretty caked with stuff burns off with the next fire it seems, any way to stop it. Also had some good secondary burns where maybe on flame coming out of the logs and everything else burning up on top. Not sure what is the best way to get this thing dialed in for most effficency. Any tips are appreciated. It seems either I have too much o2 and the wood gets chewed through pretty quick or not enough and all flames extinguish, can't find a happy medium... Other than that pretty impressed with the unit. Trying to line up some more wood for the year...paying a pretty penny, but would be great to pay up front and not have high bills through the winter. Temps this weeknd were about high of 45 to lows in the upper 20s. 12 logs got me from 8am to about 10pm yesterday. Thanks again...let the addiction begin

 

[Goater32]

so i picked up a magnetic therm. and that helped last night and tonight don't think i was burning it hot enough. just got done with about and hour and a half secondary and the therm read right about 500. still died out and then i opened the air a little bit and have nice blue flames now. looking for any advice from those with experience. thanks again

 

[northwinds]

so i picked up a magnetic therm. and that helped last night and tonight don't think i was burning it hot enough. just got done with about and hour and a half secondary and the therm read right about 500. still died out and then i opened the air a little bit and have nice blue flames now. looking for any advice from those with experience. thanks again

Sounds to me like you're doing fine and learning as you go. Not sure where you are placing your thermometer. Easiest way to tell if you're burning clean is to look at your chimney after you've dialed the air down. If you see little smoke, then you're burning clean. If you're seeing lots of smoke, then the air is too far down and/or your wood is not optimal/seasoned. Caked up glass is generally a sign that you could be burning cleaner, but if the haze is burning off in the next cycle, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Get ahead on your wood now, so that you will be burning seasoned wood in the future. Almost impossible to find truly seasoned wood this time of year.
I'm ahead at least 3 years, which makes burning wood much easier.