House planning: Woodstove and Fireplace

[BlackDogFarms]

I posted here last year about putting a wood stove in our new Garage Apt. Well we decided not to build the apartment and have instead been saving our money towards the home.

Either way we will be having a fireplace or a wood stove in the home for heating.... now we are in eastern NC so it doesn't get very cold here for long but I grew up with a fire place and wood stoves in our outbuildings and it is a must have for me.

We live on 11 acres of hardwoods and there are ample resources for firewood for future heating. This will not be our only source of heat.

We plan on building a 2200-2800 sf home with an open floor plan including (great room, kitchen, dining room, foyer and mudroom), 2 bedrooms downstairs and 2 bedrooms upstairs. Maybe a vaulted ceiling up to 16 feet in the great room. Still early in the planning process.

Now here is my dilemma:

We want a wood stove for efficiency and to have the ability to cook on it when the power is out etc(not a big deal). We also like the idea of having a chimney vs. stove pipe for aesthetic reasons.
Could we build a chimney with a fireplace that would accept a wood stove, or are we just wasting our money.Essentially a wood stove in a fireplace. Note the attached pictures.


Also, if we did the above if we ever wanted to remove the stove and just have a fireplace we could.

Again, we are early in the planning of this but definitely know we want one of the other and both agree on the woodstove due to efficiency etc. I just don't want to build it for the stove and later want the looks of a "fire place".

Is this reasonably possible. Costs associated with chimney versus double walled piping? I assume the brick work would be much more than the piping?

Thanks for reading.

 

[begreen]

Yes, you could have a properly designed fireplace built that will be large enough to accommodate a freestanding stove and then at a later date remove the stove and liner if so desired. That is a very expensive approach, but can be done. Another option to consider would be putting in a high quality zeroclearance EPA fireplace. That way you get the big fireplace beauty with some good heating. Some units can even be ducted to help with heat distribution.

http://www.heatnglo.com/Products/North-Star-Wood-Fireplace.aspx

 

[cjgoode]

Those are not really fireplaces, just a recessed opening for a wood stove to me. Obviously a lot of people put wood stove inserts into their fireplaces, not nearly as efficient, but how efficient will you need to be in Eastern NC. With money anything is possible, and clearly a stone or brick Chimney will cost more, be a lot more ascetically pleasing and add more value to your house. Moving a wood stove out to use as a fireplace, not real likely do to the weight an all.

this is where I am heading in western NC mountains where it gets a lot colder. Keeping the gas fireplace for when it is just a little chilly and when you want that fireplace look. Those new gas logs do incredible in both their look of a real fire as well as the heat they can put off. But I always wanted a woodstove especially when it gets real cold so I do not have to use other heat sources. Planning to go up through the wall and then up with triple wall pipe. Best of both worlds, fire place for ambiance and light heat and wood stove with bay window for some serious heat and real wood burning. Hope you call can see the link to my FB photo. I just got to get back up there and finish the new hearth to match the old and run the pipe.

 

[jatoxico]

Agree w/ BG about the expense. It's a nice look but all that masonry will cost much more vs. running some stovepipe. As you are in the planning stages, see if you can have the chimney/stovepipe on the interior as opposed to an exterior install. Much better performance.

 

[FTG-05]

Here's what we did:


From:



To:



Warning: By far the cheapest part of the install was the woodstove at about $750 or so. 30-NC on sale at HD.

 

[Squisher]

Those are not really fireplaces, just a recessed opening for a wood stove to me. Obviously a lot of people put wood stove inserts into their fireplaces, not nearly as efficient, but how efficient will you need to be in Eastern NC. With money anything is possible, and clearly a stone or brick Chimney will cost more, be a lot more ascetically pleasing and add more value to your house. Moving a wood stove out to use as a fireplace, not real likely do to the weight an all.

this is where I am heading in western NC mountains where it gets a lot colder. Keeping the gas fireplace for when it is just a little chilly and when you want that fireplace look. Those new gas logs do incredible in both their look of a real fire as well as the heat they can put off. But I always wanted a woodstove especially when it gets real cold so I do not have to use other heat sources. Planning to go up through the wall and then up with triple wall pipe. Best of both worlds, fire place for ambiance and light heat and wood stove with bay window for some serious heat and real wood burning. Hope you call can see the link to my FB photo. I just got to get back up there and finish the new hearth to match the old and run the pipe.

View attachment 189579

I was under the impression that inserts in a fireplace were very close in efficiency to freestanding stoves as long as power to the blower is available?

Also you can't talk about efficiency in one paragraph and going through the wall with your chimney in the next. Introducing two 90's into a chimney is not what I would plan to do unless there where no other options. Straight up and out for efficiency and serviceability.

 

[bholler]

I was under the impression that inserts in a fireplace were very close in efficiency to freestanding stoves as long as power to the blower is available?

they are you are correct

 

[begreen]

Even with a blower an insert can lose some heating efficiency when installed in a cold, exterior masonry fireplace without a blockoff plate. We've seen a notable improvement in heating in these circumstances with an insulated block-off plate and a sheet of insulation added behind the insert.

 

[bholler]

Even with a blower an insert can lose some heating efficiency when installed in a cold, exterior masonry fireplace without a blockoff plate. We've seen a notable improvement in heating in these circumstances with an insulated block-off plate and a sheet of insulation added behind the insert.

Yes I should have added with a good installation to my comment.

 

[cjgoode]

Also you can't talk about efficiency in one paragraph and going through the wall with your chimney in the next. Introducing two 90's into a chimney is not what I would plan to do unless there where no other options. Straight up and out for efficiency and serviceability.

When your house is already built and built by someone else, you have cathedral ceilings with very expensive wood with with a small attic full of insulation with 0 access to that space, going up through the ceiling is not always an option. There is literally no way to get into the attic, our best guess is it might be 2 to 4 feet between the ceiling and roof, and have little clue how it was built up there. Sometimes you just do what you have to do.

 

[cjgoode]

Here's what we did:


From:
View attachment 189640


To:
View attachment 189641


Warning: By far the cheapest part of the install was the woodstove at about $750 or so. 30-NC on sale at HD.

Now you are never going to build a fire in that without a wood stove in there, but clearly that was not your goal. That turned out incredible, very well done, love it.