I need to figure out which way to go.

[RJenkos]

I have a 2 story house with an attached den that would be a garage in most houses. In that side room I have a free standing fisher grandpa bear stove feeding into an open fireplace through a steel surround, kinda slammer style. It works really well to get that room to over 100 degrees. I have to set up a fan system all through the house to try and distribute heat through it. The fan noise is really annoying! This chimney also has a poured concrete liner. It drafts like a monster!

I also have an open fire place on the other side in the living room. I want to take my parent's old Buck stove and put it in that space. It's in the main part of the house so it should do a much better job of heating everything up. This side is a regular clay lined chimney that looks like it has barely been used, or at least cleaned often. I guess would have to drop a liner in.


Now that I've been reading around I'm not sure which way to go.

 

[blades]

If the flue is big enough to take an insulated liner that's the best route. More than likely the clay tile inside that flue will have to be broken out before an insulated liner will fit. As most stove take a 6" flue, Internal diameter, the clay flue would be way oversized which leads to a host of problems. Draft and creosote are just 2 of them.

 

[begreen]

Start with measuring the inner diameter of the chimney tile. Let us know what you find. Are you considering self-installing the liner and stove or having an installer do the work?

 

[RJenkos]

It's been a little while since I stuck my head down the chimney but I believe it can fit an 8 inch, That's what the fisher side is. It has to travel about 30 feet. When I run the stove it burns till it either warms up or I need to empty it, so it stays hot and with so much brick it's well insulated. I'll measure my firepit chimney outside once the deluge of rain stops. It's the same size. Worst case scenario it would have to be ovaled out.

I'll be installing it myself and with a helper if I'm lucky. I think I might switch rooms too. If I shorten the Fisher so it's just sitting on the feet I can probably push it back into the fireplace some and with a liner and flue connection I won't need a surround, so not much heat lost.

The problem that needs solving is that the fisher creates so much heat that I can't get out into the house properly. There are no rooms above the room it's in and the massive brick fireplace prohibits putting vents into the living room. I don't know why it ended up this way but someone spent a lot of money to do it.

 

[RJenkos]

Excuse my messy house, but this is what I'm working with.

 

[begreen]

Is this a prefab, zero clearance fireplace with a metal chimney or a full masonry fireplace and chimney?

 

[RJenkos]

Is this a prefab, zero clearance fireplace with a metal chimney or a full masonry fireplace and chimney?

Full masonry.

 

[begreen]

These days inserts requiring an 8" liner are rare. An insulated 6" liner covers almost all. The old Bucks usually have a rectangular opening that needs a transition piece to 8" round. You need to factor in the height requirements for this transition piece and make sure there is room. Given those issues, it might be worth considering a more modern insert.

 

[RJenkos]

I haven't gotten the tape measure out for it yet, but I think I could assemble it in place.

Right now I think I might see about swapping the two stoves. Put the big Fisher in the den and shorten it so it's just sitting on the balls, that way I can push it into the fire place some and not be in the way as much as it is now. Just 90 it up and out and put a new damper on it.
I think that's probably the best bet, even though I was always happy with the Buck stove growing up the Fisher will always put out more heat.

The Buck insert would look nice inserted where the fisher is now.

 

[logfarmer]

Have you tried a fan blowing toward the stove room yet? Maybe you can use just one fan?!

 

[RJenkos]

Have you tried a fan blowing toward the stove room yet? Maybe you can use just one fan?!

My house is configured in an 8 downstairs. When the wood stove is running I have one strong fan blowing out of the room and another fan on low in the back of the house circulating the air through the O part. You can feel the circulation but I still can't get enough heat out of the room.
The warmest room in the rest of the house will be maybe 73 while the wood stove room will be 80-90+.

It didn't get very cold last winter so I didn't burn much but if I get more chance this year I might try to figure more out. The location is pretty convenient right now because I can stack wood right outside of the window and grab it from the inside.
It ends up being a lot of work for not enough reward.

 

[moresnow]

Hot air is light density. Cold is heavy. Tough to displace cold with hot. You are better off pushing the cold dense air into the stove room which displaces the hot air creating a convection loop. A couple floor fans in the colder portion of the house on low is worth a try. I do it at my place during extreme cold. It works. It takes time and correct fan placement to get it working so don't expect miracle's right away. Worth a try/experiment.

 

[RJenkos]

The problem with that is it puts a fan in the main hallway, that's why it ended up blowing out. I had been looking for a fan I could mount in the doorway but I couldn't find anything I liked, nothing with enough power.

I may have figured out a way to put a vent pass through in the brick veneer above the fisher to the other room. That would be a game change if I can get that to work.

 

[RJenkos]

This is about as good as I've been able to get it. But no matter, I'll be selling this house in a month and moving into my 1880 farmhouse.