We are planning a new home in the northwest panhandle of florida...........first floor 2500 sq ft with 20 x 20 hearth room (9 ft ceiling)....We can specify a masonary exterior chimney, brick hearth, etc. My wife and I enjoy my uncle's older Ashley wood burning insert in his family room. My question......what kind of specifications should I give to my builder in order to build the proper chimney, hearth, etc to accomodate a current model wood burning insert? We don't plan to heat the entire house with this.......just want the beauty of a wood fire and comfort of an extremely warm hearth room...... We are breaking ground in May so we have time to plan. I know absoloutely nothing about fireplaces and/or inserts. Thanks so much for your input.......ratucker3
New Construction - - Need Advice Please
- Thread starter ratucker3
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
RedGuy
Member
What I would do is find the insert you want and have the builder build the fireplace and chimney to the manufactures specifications AND install the insert at the same time. If you ask me right now your are in the absolute best position, clean slate! Not working with cobbled up old improperly built materials.
cmonSTART
Minister of Fire
About the only thing I would insist on is having a round rigid stainless flue with insulation. Everything else can be masonry and done as you please, but the functional bit should be top notch. Oh, and have some sort of cap and a decent splay.
amellefson
Member
I have an insert. Building new you should look into a freestanding or even a fireplace. Quadrafire and Heat and Glo make a wonderful fireplace. It is just a efficient as a free standing or insert, but you can duct it into the forced air. Or create kind a zone system. Might save you money too. On those fireplaces you can have it framed up and install cultured stone instead of real masonary. Looks just the same in the end. Like redguy says. Pick out want and look at the spec sheet. Good luck.
madison
Minister of Fire
Ditto "Quadforlife"
for instance: http://www.quadrafire.com/Products/7100-Wood-Fireplace.aspx
Not too sure about how much heat you actually want being in florida????
for instance: http://www.quadrafire.com/Products/7100-Wood-Fireplace.aspx
Not too sure about how much heat you actually want being in florida????
I would look into installing a high efficiency fireplace rather then building a masonry fireplace then installing an insert. The overall look will be better and you can run remote duct work to get full use of the fireplace.
ChillyGator
New Member
ratucker3,
Welcome to the forum! You have come to the right place for hearth related advice and opinions. Our climate for practical purposes is the same, if you're coastal that is a little more moderate but only a couple degrees on the coldest days. My father (2000 sq ft) and I (1650 sq ft) will both burn close to 2 cords this winter. We both have backup heat but try to mostly heat with wood. Normal year (whatever that is anymore) would be 1-1.5 cords. I know of quite a few people with relatively new homes that had $350-$450 electric bills this past December so usage can spike at times. NG maybe an option where you are...just depends. The heating season runs roughly November - March and A/C maybe needed at any time and you will use both on the same day more than you think possible :shut:
I would encourage you to look at the hearth photo section and search posts for other photos....lots of inspiration here. FWIW I would build the hearth/fireplace/stove/insert big enough to heat the house in case of power loss. November hurricanes along the gulf coast are not uncommon and can leave you without power for days or weeks depending on location/severity. If I was building from scratch I would look hard at a masonry hearth with a freestanding stove at floor level (walk in-walk out). IMHO they look clean and simple and you can put in a stove that is easy to load/operate and needs no power to heat your home. I think top end stoves are less expensive than top end inserts also. Which ever way you decide to go, I would find a stove dealer that can work with your builder to have it installed to code and function properly the first time. Good luck.
Welcome to the forum! You have come to the right place for hearth related advice and opinions. Our climate for practical purposes is the same, if you're coastal that is a little more moderate but only a couple degrees on the coldest days. My father (2000 sq ft) and I (1650 sq ft) will both burn close to 2 cords this winter. We both have backup heat but try to mostly heat with wood. Normal year (whatever that is anymore) would be 1-1.5 cords. I know of quite a few people with relatively new homes that had $350-$450 electric bills this past December so usage can spike at times. NG maybe an option where you are...just depends. The heating season runs roughly November - March and A/C maybe needed at any time and you will use both on the same day more than you think possible :shut:
I would encourage you to look at the hearth photo section and search posts for other photos....lots of inspiration here. FWIW I would build the hearth/fireplace/stove/insert big enough to heat the house in case of power loss. November hurricanes along the gulf coast are not uncommon and can leave you without power for days or weeks depending on location/severity. If I was building from scratch I would look hard at a masonry hearth with a freestanding stove at floor level (walk in-walk out). IMHO they look clean and simple and you can put in a stove that is easy to load/operate and needs no power to heat your home. I think top end stoves are less expensive than top end inserts also. Which ever way you decide to go, I would find a stove dealer that can work with your builder to have it installed to code and function properly the first time. Good luck.
Hello!!
We did exactly what you are doing now when we built this house(2,500+).
Ended up going with the Quadrafire 7100, tripple walled stanless chimney and a exterior chase rather than masonry.
If you want the look, just find a stone mason and have them slap the faux stone on it for 1/3 the cost of masonry.
We heat the entire house with the Quad all winter, and have no issues with it keeping the place 70+ when it's sub zero and wind howling.
Another consideration for ya...insurance.
Sometimes the insurance folks can be cranky about stoves, but generally don't even blink concerning a fireplace.
Then there's value. A fireplace is one of those 100% return or better features, and stoves are not.
If ya do it right, the tax credit is still there....
Check out the Quadrafire line, and ask around about GOOD stonemasons in the area to do up your Hearth.
We have had folks ask about how the heat from the masonry affects the TV, and then try to convince them it's NOT masonry.
On the install, your GC should be brought up to speed by the Fireplace dealer to keep in code compliance, but it is no more of a design change than adding a window.
Good luck to ya, and congrats on the build!!
We did exactly what you are doing now when we built this house(2,500+).
Ended up going with the Quadrafire 7100, tripple walled stanless chimney and a exterior chase rather than masonry.
If you want the look, just find a stone mason and have them slap the faux stone on it for 1/3 the cost of masonry.
We heat the entire house with the Quad all winter, and have no issues with it keeping the place 70+ when it's sub zero and wind howling.
Another consideration for ya...insurance.
Sometimes the insurance folks can be cranky about stoves, but generally don't even blink concerning a fireplace.
Then there's value. A fireplace is one of those 100% return or better features, and stoves are not.
If ya do it right, the tax credit is still there....
Check out the Quadrafire line, and ask around about GOOD stonemasons in the area to do up your Hearth.
We have had folks ask about how the heat from the masonry affects the TV, and then try to convince them it's NOT masonry.
On the install, your GC should be brought up to speed by the Fireplace dealer to keep in code compliance, but it is no more of a design change than adding a window.
Good luck to ya, and congrats on the build!!
- Status
Similar threads
