New to all this need fireplace advise

[ddahlgren]

I am selling my old victorian house and downsizing a lot. I have looked at some places that are small 800 sq ft some cottages some condo's. I was hopeing to use the fireplace in the condo for added heat in the colder months. It was built in 1990 and does not have a masonary chimney. I was going to take pictures of my own but the realtor frowned as the place was still lived in with personal things all around so I understand the issue with that. I realise this is not much info to go on but from what I have read here it seems like it must be some contrator installed deal and the rest of the place is nice though obviously built for a price point as well. I do have to find out who owns what being a condo it might be their chimney or might be mine. I suspect if I want to change it then it is theirs but if it needs work it is mine..LOL.. The place seems to be built pretty tight as well so that for me brings up the question of outside air unless this has some sort of inlet air device now something I do need to look into. Do I have any options here next question is what to burn. There is no gas service so that is not going to happen easily. Next is storage for wood has to be on my small deck which makes me think of the bio brick sort of thing I read about here while expensive is bug free and bagged so could have some stored indoors and some on the deck. I am open to any and all suggestions. The cabin deal is looking better in a lot of ways but are not very close to where I work.
Dave

 

[RNLA]

When I lived in a condominium my room mate burned the energy logs in the wood stove and it was warm. They stack clean and neat, if they are kept dry. Then the occasional piece of fire wood and kindling to get going. I would say if your going to get a stove you should have a professional do the work so you can prove it is up to code....

 

[pen]

I would say step 1. Have that fireplace/chimney inspected along with your other inspections prior to purchase. If possible, be there for the inspections (not just the chimney) so that you can ask questions of the installer as to his opinion of the installation. Just because something is installed to code doesn't mean that it may work well.

Biobricks, while some folks have had good success with cost more than traditional firewood and kinda make your fireplace more realistic in terms of abmiance rather than actual heat.

Additionally, fireplaces aren't very effecient at heating as so much air goes up the flue.

If you were serious about heating w/ that fireplace I'd be talking to the inspector about his thoughts regarding installing an insert but even then it may be cost prohibitive considering the cost of bio bricks and the reality is it is difficult to have truly seasoned wood delivered.

You are in a tough spot if you want to heat solely with wood IMO.

pen

 

[Eaglecraft]

I am selling my old victorian house and downsizing a lot. I have looked at some places that are small 800 sq ft some cottages some condo's. I was hopeing to use the fireplace in the condo for added heat in the colder months. It was built in 1990 and does not have a masonary chimney. I was going to take pictures of my own but the realtor frowned as the place was still lived in with personal things all around so I understand the issue with that. I realise this is not much info to go on but from what I have read here it seems like it must be some contrator installed deal and the rest of the place is nice though obviously built for a price point as well. I do have to find out who owns what being a condo it might be their chimney or might be mine. I suspect if I want to change it then it is theirs but if it needs work it is mine..LOL.. The place seems to be built pretty tight as well so that for me brings up the question of outside air unless this has some sort of inlet air device now something I do need to look into. Do I have any options here next question is what to burn. There is no gas service so that is not going to happen easily. Next is storage for wood has to be on my small deck which makes me think of the bio brick sort of thing I read about here while expensive is bug free and bagged so could have some stored indoors and some on the deck. I am open to any and all suggestions. The cabin deal is looking better in a lot of ways but are not very close to where I work.
Dave

Dave:

I wouldn't count on the fireplace adding much heat to your condo - even though some condos can be small units. How much heat a fireplace actually generates seems to be somewhat of a controversial topic on this forum. I can state from personal experience that my former fireplace was a heat looser. When I made a hot fire in the fireplace, the back rooms in my 2000 square foot ranch style home became viciously cold. Yes, if you were immediately in front of the fireplace, you got warm. But the thermostat in my back hallway always called for heat when I was using the fireplace. Most of the heat in the home was drafting up the chimney.

Since I was remodeling my front room anyway - new floors, walls, ceiling, windows, etc., I decided to install a Hearthstone Clydesdale and fix that heat looser of a fireplace. Boy am I glad that I did. The Clydesdale actually produces enough heat that my natural gas burner forced-air heating plant never kicks on. By the way, a number of small inserts and hearthstoves are manufactured for small homes, condos, apartments, etc.

Good luck...

 

[ddahlgren]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I was thinking about finding out who made the fireplace and if they are still in business it is 20 years old so who knows there and see what they have to say. I am pretty sure they are not up to correct code as the carpet is painfully close for me. I am pulling that out and am a big fan of tile floors so that will cease to be an issue. Would a glass door and some sort of blower arraignment be of any value? Any good links to thew folks mentioned making inserts for a condo available? I live in Ct and they are talking about taxing electric companies heavily so the already high cost for that will go up and currently and no way to change heating system is a heat pump. Over a 5 year period the investment might not be as bad as it sounds with that on the horizon.. If I can subsidise heat load by 25% it might be a big deal. The other thing that would help I hope is that it is a very open space and small at that with only 2 walls exposed to the outside. The small cottage or cabin is looking better but some of the drive times to work could be tiring there and only trading electric costs for gasoline.

Dave