General question about fireplace vs wood stove

[msherer]

I was talking with a salesman at a wood stove store recently and he told me that the emission from a wood stove is much hotter than a fireplace. I had no reason not to believe him but I had my doubts so I thought I would ask here.

Matt

 

[begreen]

He is correct if talking peak potential. This largely depends on the stove and operator. During normal operation of most stoves the flue gases are much less hot, typically running in the 300-600F range.

 

[msherer]

Thanks, I took out an old Appalachian wood stove in the fall because it was cracked. The stove vented directly in the chimney, no liner. I had the chimney inspected and cleaned and now looking to install a Lopi 1750i and got into the discussion of liners. I’ve been burning in the fireplace with no issues. I’m sure this has probably been discussed at length but if the chimney is in good shape what would a liner do for me? Thanks for any input.

Matt

 

[bholler]

Thanks, I took out an old Appalachian wood stove in the fall because it was cracked. The stove vented directly in the chimney, no liner. I had the chimney inspected and cleaned and now looking to install a Lopi 1750i and got into the discussion of liners. I’ve been burning in the fireplace with no issues. I’m sure this has probably been discussed at length but if the chimney is in good shape what would a liner do for me? Thanks for any input.

Matt

Make it safe to use and make it code compliant and insurable. Not to mention the fact that it will work correctly.

 

[weatherguy]

You need the liner to have the stove draft correctly, plus what BHoller said. The draft is the engine in these new stoves, you need the liner for draft.

 

[Sprinter]

If you are using the fireplace for warming the place, you absolutely need some kind of stove, free-standing or insert. Using an open fireplace is basically negatively efficient, since it draws huge amounts of air through the house for combustion. A good, modern stove or insert makes all the difference and they draw much less air for combustion. It will be much better than your old stove as well.

BTW, the Lopi has a good reputation if you're wondering about that.

 

[yooper08]

It’s not so much the temps but the draft. But a correctly installed liner will keep temps high enough inside it to minimize the chance of chimney fires, provided the appliance is burned as prescribed.