Fireplace repair/update

[area_man]

I have a fireplace in the living room and have never used it. The previous owners did, and they burned a bunch of garbage in it. I had a fireplace guy come out today to give it a look. The flue is rusted open and doesn't seem to want to move. 30 years of rain have rotted it pretty good.

It has a fan built into the bricks with one of those twist-for-an-hour knob timers in the wall, and it works. Air is sucked in through two vents, one on either side of the fireplace, and comes out through the brick above the fireplace opening. The fireplace guy said there were pipes built into the fireplace to route air around and it should throw off as much heat as a fireplace can. It's also got glass doors in a brass frame in the front. It looks like it should be workable. The previous owners said they used it all the time.

Here's my question. If the flue is rusted open, I won't be able to adjust the flue for air flow. Does that even matter with the glass doors? I thought the glass doors were there to adjust the flow of air. Do I even have to get a cap put on the chimney?

The chimney definitely needs to be swept. Can I get away with just sweeping the chimney and use it as-is?

Also, I was wondering if a Great Wall of Fire is a good idea. I have no illusions about turning the fireplace into an insert, just thinking that it might be nice to use less wood and have less poking around to do.

 

[peakbagger]

If the flue is rusted open, you either need to get it operable or stuff it full of insulation and put some fake logs in the fireplace. When the flue is open 24/7 a large amount of your heat if going up the flue and even if you burn on occasion it will never make up for the lost heat 24/7. Yes you have doors in front but rarely are they air tight. If you installed an insert or a stove conversion then you would be saving money even without burning wood. The flue is not used to adjust air flow it is intended to be closed when the fireplace is not running and open when it is. Of course the fire has to be all the way out so that means waiting several hours with the flue open. I expect if you hold a piece of fine plastic sheeting over the front of the fireplace with the doors closed on a cold day the plastic will suck up tight to the doors indicating an upwards draft.

There are top flue kits that can be retrofitted. They install on the top of the chimney and a steel cable is run down the to the fireplace, when the fire place is used the flue is opened by pulling on the cable.

 

[area_man]

If the flue is rusted open, you either need to get it operable or stuff it full of insulation and put some fake logs in the fireplace. When the flue is open 24/7 a large amount of your heat if going up the flue and even if you burn on occasion it will never make up for the lost heat 24/7. Yes you have doors in front but rarely are they air tight. If you installed and insert or a stove conversion then you would be saving money even without burning wood. The flue is not used to adjust air flow it is intended to be closed when the fireplace is not running and open when it is. Of course the fire has to be all the way out so that means waiting several hours with the flue open. I expect if you hold a piece of fine plastic sheeting over the front of the fireplace with the doors closed on a cold day the plastic will suck up tight to the doors indicating an upwards draft.

There are top flue kits that can be retrofitted. They install on the top of the chimney and a steel cable is run down the to the fireplace, when the fire place is used the flue is opened by pulling on the cable.

The fireplace guy is bringing a cap next week. I checked with a paper towel and it sucked right up to the glass. Oh well. I would rather have it functional.

Thanks!