Which see-through to heat big house (possible?)

[mol1jb]

That's going to be a big project to remove all that, but not impossible.
I'm guessing that fireplace you want is not very efficient, probably EPA exempt. It's very hard to get see thru fireplaces EPA approved, that's why you don't see very many of Ben on the market.
Supreme has a see thru that's approved and highly efficient. These things crank the heat! Just another option.
http://www.supremem.com/opus_see-through_fireplace.php

This is facinating. My aunt has a fireplace setup like the OP and I always wondered if an EPA approved unit would be feasible. Very cool

 

[deadtvs]

Looking into the various add-on furnace links - thanks for those! I did come across this which looks interesting: http://www.efireplacestore.com/uss-1602r.html. If I read the specs right, it would need min. 4' space side-to-side, so I'd have to punch out my utility closet wall 1' or so to make it fit - not too bad. I also wonder about putting it in the corner of the garage closest to existing gas furnace - might make sense from a wood storage and clean-up point of view.

@byQ, I had briefly looked at masonry heaters early on. No, I wasn't aware they had two-sided ones - I will look into that further. So many options, something oughta work! And no, I don't have $30K for it, but we're here for the long haul, so I am interested in a viable long-term solution, even if it runs into the (low) 5-figures.

 

[deadtvs]

Or this: http://www.englanderstoves.com/28-3500.html. The big orange store even has these online, but says they can't be sold in CO - any ideas why? I wonder if they just mean in the 7-county Denver area, that has burn restrictions - I'm far away from that.

 

[webby3650]

This is facinating. My aunt has a fireplace setup like the OP and I always wondered if an EPA approved unit would be feasible. Very cool

It will take a lot of work to make the change. Supreme makes nice stuff and it would be a good heater!
They are also coming out with a see-thru freestanding stove. That will be cool!

 

[NRGarrott]

How deep is your existing fireplace? My father in law has a similar set up, but he has 2 buck inserts set into a field stone fireplace. All of your attention is on the detail work, no one notices one way or another that the fireplace is actually 2 units, one on each side.

 

[deadtvs]

I saw a thread here about two inserts back-to-back. Seemed like a kludge so I didn't pay much attention. How do the chimneys work? Do they feed into one stovepipe, or separate all the way up? Seems that would have to be scaled somehow. In any case, the existing depth is only about 2', so i doubt there'd be room, but we'd likely redo the faces anyway, so we could bring it out a little.

Anyway, I'm going to take a break for the weekend (or at least today), and let all these ideas settle a bit. Although I'd still like to get a "useful" wood-burning unit in the living room, I must say I'm leaning toward the add-on furnace idea as a more practical/feasible solution.

Thanks again everyone for sharing your knowledge and ideas! I will be back.

 

[jeff_t]

Or this: http://www.englanderstoves.com/28-3500.html. The big orange store even has these online, but says they can't be sold in CO - any ideas why? I wonder if they just mean in the 7-county Denver area, that has burn restrictions - I'm far away from that.

The Englander unit doesn't meet EPA standards.

I've never had to look into it, but what does it take to make a wood furnace work with a downdraft hvac system?