Open fireplace in small Cabin, need advice

[12guns]

Hello from Arkansas. I have done a lot of reading and searching prior to posting, so forgive me if I overlooked my answer.
My dad and I own a small 294 sq foot cabin in North/Central Arkansas. It was built in the early 50's and designed with an open fireplace. Years ago we installed a heavy duty stove along with SS stove pipe to keep from buring through so much wood and to get more heat out into the cabin. The stove worked great for years, but for whatever reason, five or six years ago, we decided to take out the stove and sell it.
Now, years later, we have realized that in order to stay warm we have to burn through a TON of firewood! My quesiton is:
-What is the easiest way to produce heat w/o putting in a full stove?
-Is an insert the answer to our problem?
-Can a "front" of glass doors only be installed to better control airflow?
-Can we seal off the chimney opening with SS pipe to downsize to the proper ratio and get better draft while producing more heat? I assume that wouldn't slow the wood burning down at all...but just a thought.

Ideally we would like to have large doors that would open wide or remove entirely to have the option of an opend-fireplace-feel.
Inside the chimney is a HUGE open void, way to large for proper draw. As the fire cools, we get smoked out from time to time, although my crude sheetmetal air guide helped quite a bit.
Thanks for any help. I'll admit I like the open fireplace, but hate burning through a rick of firewood per weekend, and I am leaning away from installing another large heavy stove. \

Dimensions are as follows:
Front Across 37"
Rear across 31"
Height 31"
Depth 21" at top
Opening into chimney appx 31" x 9"

 

[12guns]

BTW, we don't have power or running water. We do have a 12 volt system for lights, which in the near future will have a 100 watt solar panel charging two or three deep cycle batteries. That should be enough for a small fan to circulate heat if needed. Here's what it looks like on the outside.

 

[jeff_t]

That place looks awesome.

You should be able to slide a stove into that fireplace and drop a liner down the chimney. An insert would be a problem with no electricity, but some are more convective than others and may do a decent job of heating the space on its own. I assume there is little to no insulation? I'm not sure I would want to go to sleep with a poorly drafting fireplace.

There may be some other options, but I would say you're going to have to give up the open fire, or give up some floor space and put a stove back in. Or just keep chucking wood in the fireplace.

Welcome. Feel free to post more pics

 

[12guns]

Thanks for the reply. I tend to agree that another stove may be our best option for heating, and we may in fact have to do that. The old stove only stuck out about 2/3 and was not sticking past the fire brick liners in the floor.
So glass doors added to my existing fireplace wouldn't do much? My though there is that if we reduced the airflow by adding glass doors, we could make the wood burn longer. I'm sure I could rig up a factory set of doors to seal up around the rock somehow, but didn't know if adding just doors would help or be a bad idea.
And yes, I have woken up many times to a smoke filled cabin! It's only smoked us out once or twice in a few years, which is after I added that ugly metal "guide". The good news it's such a small cabin, an open door and open window clear the smoke out very fast. Bad news is our heat goes with it!
I'll post some moe pics if I can find some.
Anybody ever build a homemade steel "liner" as an insert? Sure would be nice if I could have a liner built that fit snugly inside with large removeable doors on the front...not even sure that's possible.
And let me add, it drafts just fine with a window cracked, but with such a strong breeze and a loss of heat, I have figured out just how much O2 is needed to allow a good draft. With that said, when the fire dies down, the mostly closed window and lack of air is the cause for poor draft.

 

[begreen]

Indeed, that's a beautiful little stone cabin.

Glass doors would help, but the fireplace will still be a heat sucker, drawing a lot of warmed air out of the room as the fire dies down. No, you should not change the chimney interior for the open fireplace. The reason it's spills smoke is partially because of design and the short chimney. I imagine it is particularly balky during damp 40-50º weather until the chimney gets warmed up.

You had the right idea with the old stove and stainless liner. That's going to do the best job of heating the place. Those stone walls will suck up heat like a sponge when it's cold outside. With the short chimney I don't think a modern EPA stove would work well. Instead I would look for a stove that can have the doors open if you want an open fire, yet closed for heat. An old Fisher, Timberline or Vermont Castings Resolute would work.

 

[12guns]

Here's a couple more pics.
Thanks again for the replies. I'll look into a used stove. I found one at a local body shop that needs quite a bit of clean up, but it's the right size and has glass doors. It's an old Buck Stove, not sure what model. If it's cheap, or even for sale for that matter, it might find a new home with me!

 

[tcassavaugh]

beautiful place...looks like you have running water....get a bucket, run outside to the creek and run back in......I'd op for a small stove if i could get one. something small enough to fit inside but possibly cook on too. thats just me. i had a small jotul that fit the bill for me 20 years ago. it saved our bacon more than once when the power went out during winter storms. have since moved but was able to bring the stove with me and i still have it.....but don't use it right now. might put it in the garage. can't seem to be able to part with it.

cass

 

[begreen]

If the Buck's interior is in decent condition and it hasn't been abused, then it may work. A wire brush and some Stove Brite paint can work small miracles in the looks dept.

 

[begreen]

The way that thing is built it looks like the old county jail. LOL Were the bars a later addition to prevent vandalism?

 

[Seasoned Oak]

THose very small EPA stoves work great such as NC-13 englander or a country hearth 2000. Overnight burns may be hard to do but a larger stove may cook you out.

 

[begreen]

I'm guessing that is about 8-10ft of chimney above the fireplace opening. If so, an EPA stove is going to want about a 4-6 ft extension to draw reasonably well.

 

[firecracker_77]

What an awesome little cabin in an ideal setting. Maybe if it's not terribly well insulated, you can get away with a bigger smoke dragon, but I think that's alot of heat for a room with lower sq feet. Wouldn't be the end of the world though...could always crack a window or 2.

 

[stejus]

Now that's a text book definition of a Man Cave. I can't add anything to the other post's so I'll leave it at that and can't wait to see pic's of a stove in that Cave!

 

[begreen]

What an awesome little cabin in an ideal setting. Maybe if it's not terribly well insulated, you can get away with a bigger smoke dragon, but I think that's alot of heat for a room with lower sq feet. Wouldn't be the end of the world though...could always crack a window or 2.

Those stone walls really soak up the heat. If it's below freezing the stove will be cooking. I'd put in about a 2 cu ft stove for a decent crack at an overnight burn.

 

[firecracker_77]

Those stone walls really soak up the heat. If it's below freezing the stove will be cooking. I'd put in about a 2 cu ft stove for a decent crack at an overnight burn.

I agree. Need a bigger firebox so you don't wake up cold in the morning. Soapstone could work well here to release a little more heat. Or, a fire that could be choked back with a slower burn.

 

[BrowningBAR]

That's a lot of stone and cement to heat up. Stone is a pain in the ass to heat once it goes cold. I would go with a steel stove in the 2 cu ft range.

I'm going with a steel suggestion as they tend to throw heat faster than other materials like cast iron and soap stone. I'm thinking a Buck Model 74 would work since it can slide right into the fireplace like an insert, yet still have the openness to radiate heat like a free standing stove. It is also a 2.6 cu ft stove with a 6" collar.

Is it over-sized for 300 sq ft? Yes. Will you need to oversize to overcompensate for all that stone and cement? Without a doubt.

 

[firecracker_77]

How cold are Arkansas winters? I picture a mild climate with very little snow. Lows around 30 at the coldest.

 

[firecracker_77]

Southern Illinois gets mostly ice storms instead of snow and Arkansas is a ways further south.

 

[corey21]

Very nice place.

Whatever EPA stove you decide on i suggest you add to that chimney maybe get it up to 14 foot for starters. Modern stoves need a better draft then a fireplace.

 

[begreen]

I would not be using an EPA stove here due to the very short chimney. You want an easy breathing stove. There are lots of older steel stoves on the market that may work here. Just get a good one that hasn't been abused and that fits.

 

[firecracker_77]

I would not be using an EPA stove here due to the very short chimney. You want an easy breathing stove. There are lots of older steel stoves on the market that may work here. Just get a good one that hasn't been abused and that fits.

I think having a tall stainless chimney with that idyllic stone cabin does not make sense.

 

[DianeB]

beautiful place...looks like you have running water....get a bucket, run outside to the creek and run back in......I'd op for a small stove if i could get one. something small enough to fit inside but possibly cook on too. thats just me. i had a small jotul that fit the bill for me 20 years ago. it saved our bacon more than once when the power went out during winter storms. have since moved but was able to bring the stove with me and i still have it.....but don't use it right now. might put it in the garage. can't seem to be able to part with it.

cass

great idea about a cook stove

 

[12guns]

Man, this was the place to come for answers! Thanks for that.
To answer the question about the bars on the windows, yes, they are to keep people out. Years and years ago it was nothing but wooden shutters latched on the inside. After the place was willed to my dad and people broke in a couple times, he had the bars custom made to fit the window frames. We have since added storm windows with screens, also had to be custom made. After the deadbolt was bashed in, we added the steel reinforcement on the steel door and have not had any problems since. It's very remote, so people that want in have time to figure out how. Sucks that people want to go to that much trouble to break in to steal a skillet and lantern, totaly not worth it.
I agree with several things said. The rocks take FOREVER to heat up. Normally after a two night weekend the place is starting to get warm inside. For example, last year with it appx 25 degrees outside, a roaring fire and two days later, we got the inside temp up to 62. We loose a ton of heat out the roof, which is only wood slats and shingles. Long term I would like to insulate the roof better which I feel would help a lot, but that may be a while.
I also agree that an "overkill" stove is ok. We can always crack a couple windows as needed, which makes for great sleeping weather!
Dad and I were talking today and he even mentioned a cast iron boxwood type stove. It would be cheap and easy to install. If we liked it, we can always install a nicer stove long-term. I'll still look at the Buck stove. At this point I'm not even sure if it's for sale. If it is for sale and cheap, I can clean it up easy enough.

 

[begreen]

If your dad is thinking about the Vogelzang boxwood stove, skip it. Don't go that cheap. You will find a decent older stove that is well made and most importantly - controllable. Keep checking craigslist for good models in your area and don't hesitate to ask questions about them if you need to.

 

[corey21]

begreen is right you should skip the Vogelzang boxwood stove.