Advice needed! Stove/Fireplace options

[mbm2044]

Moving into a new home and we have this large existing fireplace that previously had a wood stove installed. The room is 22x22 and somewhat separated from the rest of the house so heating requirements are somewhat limited, but we'd love to use the fireplace to make the room warmer and not draw in air from the outside with a drafty fireplace. Considering the relatively small space we're heating compared to a whole home, I'm inclined to go with a small wood burning stove. To make it seem less tiny I was thinking we should pull the stove towards the front of the brick and use a rear vent, but this is all somewhat new to me and would love feedback from experts. A few other details, this in a single story with an arched ceiling, ~14 ft above grade, and a chimney that rises another 4' so I think we're meeting most minimums for that. Located in Pennsylvania, so it gets cold but nothing like some of our northern neighbors maybe I should look at an insert, but this is such a large opening I'm concerned about cost and overall ridiculousness.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[EbS-P]

Is the mantle/lintel real wood? That’s going to be an issue if it is.

 

[mbm2044]

Is the mantle/lintel real wood? That’s going to be an issue if it is.

The black part is masonry, only the rough hewn beam is wood

 

[mbm2044]

Attaching an old photo that was part of a previous listing - you can see the wood stove is tiny in that huge opening, which is part of the reason I thought to use a rear vent

 

[begreen]

That does not look like a small stove, it's just that the fireplace has overstated proportions. The main concern is the mantel. It would be safer to keep the stove inset and top-vented. If the goal is to heat, then there should be a block-off plate in the damper area and a blower on the stove. With the high ceiling, the room volume makes for more area to heat. A contemporary stove with a wide window would look good there. Check out the Osburn Inspire.

Inspire | Wood stoves | Osburn

www.osburn-mfg.com

 

[Poindexter]

What you have here is a poster child for why I (looking for BTUs in my envelope) have a woody against fireplace inserts.

Looking at both your photos, there is no appreciable smoke leakage onto the wall above the lintel. You have, most likely, a really good drawing fireplace that would allow you to make every single recipe on Chef Walter Staib's "A taste of History." With minimal gear you could also make "Yaba-daba-doo" from Thomas Keller's "French Laundry Cookbook" with no masonry work and some practice; and your ribeye could easily be better than Tom's as you could reverse sear on burning hickory where he is cooking on natural gas.

Pulling potato gallet off open fire ala Tom or Francis Malman is a pain in the neck, someday I will win.

My favorite recipe from Chef Walter is the last episode in season one, West Indies Pepper Pot soup prepared on the banks of the Delaware River. The show is perhaps a bit corny, but the soup kicks butt. I did try cooking french fry cut russet potato in rendered beef tallow once when (sort of ) following Chef Walter's recipe, but the fries were gone LONG before the soup went together. I sucked those things down like a Hoover vacuum on overdrive.

Drop a few hundred bucks on practice, make a better ribeye than the French Laundry, boom, you got an enviable wine budget.

There simply has to be, in a house with enough sqft to support this fabulous fireplace, somewhere else you could put a freestanding wood stove for (cheap, efficient) BTUs.

 

[EbS-P]

Keeping the wood probably means a rear vent stove with double wall stove pipe. There are not at many options for rear vent as there are top. 36” helps.

Look at the stuv units. They look great and have a size that would fit the space. They are single burn rate and don’t have a stellar reputation but that might be a trade off for the a looks of this space. I would not buy one one for heat.

I’m going to throw one out of left field how about a wood cookstove???? Still going to have issues with the wood mantle

@Poindexter i bet it draws like crap and that’s why there was a stove in there.

 

[mbm2044]

My favorite recipe from Chef Walter is the last episode in season one, West Indies Pepper Pot soup prepared on the banks of the Delaware River.

I have never seen this show before, but wow, definitely going to spend some time going through these. The fireplace he's cooking at in this episode makes even my new fireplace look tiny; but I understand what you're driving at here. Thanks for the feedback. I grew up with an open fireplace and I love them but I am concerned about the consequences of the large draw. I mentioned there was a wood stove here previously - unfortunately the chimney liner is still installed so I haven't been able to test it.

I’m going to throw one out of left field how about a wood cookstove????

I hadn't considered this but I like the idea. Need to look at dimensions and if I'd have the clearance. Between you and @Poindexter I am now properly hungry.

 

[EbS-P]

I have never seen this show before, but wow, definitely going to spend some time going through these. The fireplace he's cooking at in this episode makes even my new fireplace look tiny; but I understand what you're driving at here. Thanks for the feedback. I grew up with an open fireplace and I love them but I am concerned about the consequences of the large draw. I mentioned there was a wood stove here previously - unfortunately the chimney liner is still installed so I haven't been able to test it.


I hadn't considered this but I like the idea. Need to look at dimensions and if I'd have the clearance. Between you and @Poindexter I am now properly hungry.

At 36” you need an outlet at I just guessing 30” high on center to rear vent. You could always punch a hole and top vent, running the bounce wall pipe up i front of mantle, but that’s going to change the looks.

 

[begreen]

At 36” you need an outlet at I just guessing 30” high on center to rear vent. You could always punch a hole and top vent, running the bounce wall pipe up i front of mantle, but that’s going to change the looks.

It looks like there is plenty of room on both sides to attach the flue liner to the flue collar. For this reason, up to 34 or 35" tall might be ok. The Inspire is an easy fit at 23.5" high without the pedestal.

 

[Poindexter]

@Poindexter i bet it draws like crap and that’s why there was a stove in there.

Maybe so, and we have no idea when the 100" wide wall space was last primered; but there is no visible smoke staining on the wooden part of the mantel piece. I would definitely fire that existing fireplace up and at least do some flank steaks directly on glowing wood coals (a la Alton Brown) before consigning that beautiful thing to a regal home for a metal box. I suggest either hickory or mesquite for flank steak directly on coals, with apple a close but definite third place.

 

[ispinwool]

What you have here is a poster child for why I (looking for BTUs in my envelope) have a woody against fireplace inserts.

Looking at both your photos, there is no appreciable smoke leakage onto the wall above the lintel. You have, most likely, a really good drawing fireplace that would allow you to make every single recipe on Chef Walter Staib's "A taste of History." With minimal gear you could also make "Yaba-daba-doo" from Thomas Keller's "French Laundry Cookbook" with no masonry work and some practice; and your ribeye could easily be better than Tom's as you could reverse sear on burning hickory where he is cooking on natural gas.

Pulling potato gallet off open fire ala Tom or Francis Malman is a pain in the neck, someday I will win.

My favorite recipe from Chef Walter is the last episode in season one, West Indies Pepper Pot soup prepared on the banks of the Delaware River. The show is perhaps a bit corny, but the soup kicks butt. I did try cooking french fry cut russet potato in rendered beef tallow once when (sort of ) following Chef Walter's recipe, but the fries were gone LONG before the soup went together. I sucked those things down like a Hoover vacuum on overdrive.

Drop a few hundred bucks on practice, make a better ribeye than the French Laundry, boom, you got an enviable wine budget.

There simply has to be, in a house with enough sqft to support this fabulous fireplace, somewhere else you could put a freestanding wood stove for (cheap, efficient) BTUs.

Welcome @mbm2044 ! You're gonna love it here!

@Poindexter I just found Chef Walter! I love historic cooking shows...can't wait to binge watch