First time homebuyer, looking for wood options

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NYCWood

New Member
Aug 12, 2020
1
Staten Island, NY
Hi all,

Wife and I are buying our first home on Staten Island, NY. Our lovely mayor :( banned the installation of NEW wood fireplaces in 2014 when he and the city council :( came up with new air pollution regulations.

Anyway, the house we are currently in contract for was built in 1940 and was totally gutted and renovated by a contractor in 2019. According to old listings it had a fireplace, I asked the contractor he said it was false. I ended up buying original blueprints from the dept of buildings and see there is a fireplace on the 1st floor plan. During inspection I peaked in the attic and looked around house, did not find any remnants of a chimney. A local fireplace/chimney contractor said I would need to have an architect take a look and try to put in for a permit, though, chances are slim.

Does anyone know if wood stoves are good to go in NYC? Sometimes being on Staten Island I feel like we are held hostage by the city, it is a different world literally compared to the other boroughs, some rules just should not apply here.

Also for wood stoves, I prefer something with a rear flue, wife and I are not fond of pipe showing and I'd love to find something with low clearances and build some sort of mantel around it, basically try to get that fireplace "look." I see that Europe, UK especially, has a lot more wood stove designs and options, wish we had them here. They have things that are little more sleek and squared off with rear flues.

Sorry for the long post! Thanks!
 
Hi all,

Wife and I are buying our first home on Staten Island, NY. Our lovely mayor :( banned the installation of NEW wood fireplaces in 2014 when he and the city council :( came up with new air pollution regulations.

Anyway, the house we are currently in contract for was built in 1940 and was totally gutted and renovated by a contractor in 2019. According to old listings it had a fireplace, I asked the contractor he said it was false. I ended up buying original blueprints from the dept of buildings and see there is a fireplace on the 1st floor plan. During inspection I peaked in the attic and looked around house, did not find any remnants of a chimney. A local fireplace/chimney contractor said I would need to have an architect take a look and try to put in for a permit, though, chances are slim.

Does anyone know if wood stoves are good to go in NYC? Sometimes being on Staten Island I feel like we are held hostage by the city, it is a different world literally compared to the other boroughs, some rules just should not apply here.

Also for wood stoves, I prefer something with a rear flue, wife and I are not fond of pipe showing and I'd love to find something with low clearances and build some sort of mantel around it, basically try to get that fireplace "look." I see that Europe, UK especially, has a lot more wood stove designs and options, wish we had them here. They have things that are little more sleek and squared off with rear flues.

Sorry for the long post! Thanks!
Sounds like you want a high efficiency zero clearance fireplace which should be permitted because they meet all emissions requirements.

You don't want an old open fireplace anyway. They generally suck more heat out of the house than they contribute.