- Nov 27, 2012
- 0
Question:
My wife and I just bought an old (1854) house with 9 fireplaces. The previous owner used all of them- but our engineer cautioned us not to: although all fireplaces have new fireboxes- the chimneys are not lined. We would really like to use the fireplaces- but would rather avoid the messiness and expense of having each chimney lined. Suggestions? Many thanks.
Answer:
He's right- without a lining they could be dangerous to use. Some options: <p>1. If the flue is in nice tight shape (not leaking into the living area) then Gas Logs could be an option. <p>2. You can install an efficient Wood insert that takes a smaller pipe size (6") this makes it easier to reline the chimney. <p>3. There are also Gas Inserts (more efficient than the logs)- which take a 4" liner down the chimney- also easy to do. It is EXTREMELY expensive to reline the chimney with big enough piping to allow them to work as open fireplaces...plus open fireplaces are Energy Hogs...so the above options would probably be good.
My wife and I just bought an old (1854) house with 9 fireplaces. The previous owner used all of them- but our engineer cautioned us not to: although all fireplaces have new fireboxes- the chimneys are not lined. We would really like to use the fireplaces- but would rather avoid the messiness and expense of having each chimney lined. Suggestions? Many thanks.
Answer:
He's right- without a lining they could be dangerous to use. Some options: <p>1. If the flue is in nice tight shape (not leaking into the living area) then Gas Logs could be an option. <p>2. You can install an efficient Wood insert that takes a smaller pipe size (6") this makes it easier to reline the chimney. <p>3. There are also Gas Inserts (more efficient than the logs)- which take a 4" liner down the chimney- also easy to do. It is EXTREMELY expensive to reline the chimney with big enough piping to allow them to work as open fireplaces...plus open fireplaces are Energy Hogs...so the above options would probably be good.