Can I put a fire pit in my fireplace?

[dolores57]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question. I have a humongous double sided wood burning fireplace built in the 1950’s. This is my first season using it. Moved in during the summer. I like to build a small fire every day just to take the chill off in the morning. The key word here is small. This fireplace does not like small fires.
So I was wondering if I could install a round fire pit with a hood and chimney pipe.
Something along these lines but much simpler and round. Dolores

 

[SpaceBus]

I don't think that would work. The closest thing to what you want is the Supreme Vision (https://supremem.com/vision.php) or something like it. Your double sided fireplace is most likely the reason your house gets chilly in the mornings and will always be a net heat loss no matter the size of the fire. This is true of all open fireplaces.

 

[jetsam]

Look into getting an insert if you want a warm house. Open fireplaces are heat losers with or without a fire.

If you want a small fire for cosmetic reasons and don't mind it making the house colder, you could in theory run an insulated liner and reduce the opening of the fireplace to be in line with the new size of the chimney. (That's a lot of work for a poor outcome.)

You can build any size fire in an insert, and it will warm the house without blasting so much air up the flue.

 

[john26]

Not only would you get little heat but I would be worried about draft issues especially if the fire place doesn't like small fires I notice in your picture the smoke is not going thru the chimney but drifting away from the fire pit, I would not want to fill a house with smoke. Honestly if you are just wanting a small fire in the morning you might look into gas logs and reducing the chimney size. I personally prefer wood but if you don't have the time and space for wood gas is convenient and possibly cheaper if you have to buy wood.