Increasing Brick Fireplace Efficiency

[J0NATHAN]

Hello All,

I recently purchased a home with a brick fireplace that was originally wood burning, but was converted to gas. I am looking to increase the efficiency of it and was hoping a blower can be installed. This is all very foreign to me, so I'm hoping for some advice. Either A. What (if any) kind of blower can I install and/or B. What else can I do to increase it's efficiency?

Any info will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

I tried to upload an image, but for some reason wasn't able to. Here is a link to a photo of my fireplace.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/irdt0f4os3c9shs/fireplace.jpg?dl=0

 

[DAKSY]

Your picture uploads came through, but all three were identical, so I deleted two of them.
What you have is a gas log set in a masonry wood burning fireplace, & no matter
what you burn in that set up, you're not going to get much heat. Warmth yes. Heat no.
You need to have a sealed combustion chamber in order to get heat. It can be wood,
gas, pellets or even coal, but it needs to be air tight. Blowers won't help, since there's
no real heat to move. If you like the cleanliness of gas, go to your nearest hearthshop
& see what they offer for gas inserts. You will save SOME money on the install, because
there is a gas line present in the firebox, & since gas logs have higher input needs, the
gas line is probably adequate for supplying the correct amount of fuel a gas insert.

 

[J0NATHAN]

Ah... I realized after the third time that it must be waiting for approval. Thanks for getting rid of the duplicates.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems my only options are to either leave it as is (mainly just a decorative element) or to replace the gas log set with a gas insert, in which case I'd have to hire a professional.

 

[DAKSY]

Ah... I realized after the third time that it must be waiting for approval. Thanks for getting rid of the duplicates.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems my only options are to either leave it as is (mainly just a decorative element) or to replace the gas log set with a gas insert, in which case I'd have to hire a professional.

That's kinda what I said in my first response...

 

[J0NATHAN]

That's kinda what I said in my first response...

Just confirming. Thanks!

 

[woodhog73]

I didn't see your picture. However if you don't want to invest the money on an insert, have you considered removing the gas line and having the fire place go back to wood burning ?

Now I know fireplaces are not efficient means of heating. That's why people put inserts into them. But some masonry fireplaces are better than others at offering some heat when burning wood. They are all inefficient no matter what but some do actually provide heat output. At the very least they can be a space heater for the room it's in.

Many masonry fire places have hollow areas on top and on the sides of the fire box for heat to get trapped and radiate from your hearth. The bricks would get warm from a good hot fire. Some even have heat registers allowing that heat to escape. Again depends on the fireplace and if can't see your picture.

As long as the fire place and flue wasn't altered for the gas logs ( other than the gas line) I would think it would be cheap to return it to a wood burning fire place and have a professional remove the gas line. It wouldn't be an efficient wood burner, but you should get heat output. Obviously you have to remove the gas line. And it would be wise to have a chimney inspection done before doing this to make sure it's ok condition for wood burning.

And ofcourse you would have to want to burn wood in it

 

[J0NATHAN]

I'm going to weigh my options. I'm leaning towards an insert, but I have to see what the potential costs are. I'm in no need to rush, so I may just call a professional at some point to take a look and give me some estimates.

Thanks for the help!

 

[DAKSY]

Do yourself a favor & measure your fireplace opening. Height, Width & Depth.
Take a picture of your fireplace from across the room, so you get the floor & the ceiling in the shot.
Take a picture of the outside of the house, showing the ground & the top of the chimney in the shot.
Take a picture of where the gas line is tied into the main line & take a pic of the gas line in the fireplace
Take the dimensions & all the pics to your hearth shop, & you will be that far ahead of the game.
The salesperson will be able to see what he's up against & will be able to give you a pretty accurate cost estimate for the install.

 

[Simpleacres]

A really good solution is to use a masonry heater as an insert. 98%+ efficiency and long-lasting infrared heat , easy to connect to the existing chimney, heat your whole house for a few bucks a day with 2 fires...