I'm looking for some advice on using my existing fire place to heat my living room. For efficiencey and safety I know I need to make some changes to my setup. After doing a little research I know that I have some issues to address.
I have a seemingly endless supply of oak wood on my property, that I cut and split. The past years I have used this in my other fire place with insert to heat my den area. This year we have started using the living room as our main area and I need a cheaper way to heat it (currently have oil fed base board radiant heat).
The area I am trying to heat (or at least supplement the base board heat) is 550 sq.ft.
I have my chimneys cleaned and inspected on a regular basis. I'm pretty sure this one is in good condition but I'll make sure when he comes this year. Plus he will be installing what ever I decide to put it. As far as I know this fire place has never been used. The house was built in the early 60's and has always been in the family.
Attached are a couple pictures of the fire place. The fire place dimensions are 48"W x 26.5"T x 24"D. The front and right side are open. The back and right side are steel with what looks like insulation peaking out the edges. The chimney is brick and is on an exterior wall. When this was built I'm sure it was meant to be used given that it has an ash dump door on the bottom.
overall view
image by patrickrohlich, on Flickr
image by patrickrohlich, on Flickr
Looking up (this is a little different than I would expect, not sure what this set up is called) Not sure wether this will effect a stove hook up.
image by patrickrohlich, on Flickr
As you can see there is a lack of a hearth which is one item that will need to be addressed. After minimal research I think I would like to build a non permanent hearth to put on the floor, over my current hardwood. Seems pretty simple, plywood, cement board, then tile. Am I missing anything? I do not want to cut into my hardwood floor, or do any major construction for this project if at all possible.
At first I wanted to put an inset into the fire place since I am happy with my other insert, even though it is very old and doesn't have glass doors, and my mothers insert is also very nice and effective although small. It seems that there are not any inserts made for two sided corner fire places. My only options would be to brick up one side of the fire place (I hate this idea), or use some type of sheet metal to cover that side (I also don't like that idea).
I then found pgmr's thread here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/catalytic-flame-show.42322/
His fire place looks similar to mine, and I am happy with his end result (although it is not wife approved yet). He used a BuckStove Model 80 which seems like it would fit in my fire place.
Are there any other stoves or options I should look into? Suggestions?
Does my hearth extension need to be level with the current hearth or can I up it on the current living room floor? What is the minimum thickness of the hearth extension and material build up?
How will the Flu from the stove connect to my current set up?
Is there anything else I am missing?
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to get as much information out there at one time as possible.
I have a seemingly endless supply of oak wood on my property, that I cut and split. The past years I have used this in my other fire place with insert to heat my den area. This year we have started using the living room as our main area and I need a cheaper way to heat it (currently have oil fed base board radiant heat).
The area I am trying to heat (or at least supplement the base board heat) is 550 sq.ft.
I have my chimneys cleaned and inspected on a regular basis. I'm pretty sure this one is in good condition but I'll make sure when he comes this year. Plus he will be installing what ever I decide to put it. As far as I know this fire place has never been used. The house was built in the early 60's and has always been in the family.
Attached are a couple pictures of the fire place. The fire place dimensions are 48"W x 26.5"T x 24"D. The front and right side are open. The back and right side are steel with what looks like insulation peaking out the edges. The chimney is brick and is on an exterior wall. When this was built I'm sure it was meant to be used given that it has an ash dump door on the bottom.
overall view
image by patrickrohlich, on Flickr
image by patrickrohlich, on Flickr
Looking up (this is a little different than I would expect, not sure what this set up is called) Not sure wether this will effect a stove hook up.
image by patrickrohlich, on Flickr
As you can see there is a lack of a hearth which is one item that will need to be addressed. After minimal research I think I would like to build a non permanent hearth to put on the floor, over my current hardwood. Seems pretty simple, plywood, cement board, then tile. Am I missing anything? I do not want to cut into my hardwood floor, or do any major construction for this project if at all possible.
At first I wanted to put an inset into the fire place since I am happy with my other insert, even though it is very old and doesn't have glass doors, and my mothers insert is also very nice and effective although small. It seems that there are not any inserts made for two sided corner fire places. My only options would be to brick up one side of the fire place (I hate this idea), or use some type of sheet metal to cover that side (I also don't like that idea).
I then found pgmr's thread here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/catalytic-flame-show.42322/
His fire place looks similar to mine, and I am happy with his end result (although it is not wife approved yet). He used a BuckStove Model 80 which seems like it would fit in my fire place.
Are there any other stoves or options I should look into? Suggestions?
Does my hearth extension need to be level with the current hearth or can I up it on the current living room floor? What is the minimum thickness of the hearth extension and material build up?
How will the Flu from the stove connect to my current set up?
Is there anything else I am missing?
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to get as much information out there at one time as possible.
