See-Through Wood Fireplace

[katiemarie7671]

Hello! My husband and I are planning a house. I drew it myself, so we’re not working with a preset plan. I designed a see-through fireplace that separates the living and dining rooms. Of course you can put whatever parameters you want into a system, finding something that actually exists is a different issue.

The largest non-masonry fireplace I can find in wood burning see-through is about 42” wide by 23” tall. (Heatilator) This seems absurd to me. What is the point of having it see-through if it’s too short to see through? I’ve found plenty of masonry options, but my builder has never done a masonry kit. He’s wanting to charge around $11,000 to buy the kit and install it. Plus, he’s a very good man who is worried about not doing it correctly for us, since this would be his first one.

So, I have a few questions.
First, are there other options? Does anyone know of a non-masonry option that’s taller that 23”? I don’t really need it any wider.
Second, Do we just spring for the masonry? Is $11,000 a typical price for a masonry fireplace? And, are there enough benefits to the masonry box to make it worth $11,000?
Third, do we do the Heatilator? Is 42x23 larger (taller) than I’m imagining, so it’s really a good sized box? Are there any known issues with Heatilator as a brand, or with their see-through fire boxes?

A couple notes. I really honestly do not care about the efficiency of the thing. It’s not really super cold here, and we can’t burn a fire half the time without wanting to get away from it or turn the AC on. This is an aesthetic fireplace. I however, do not want the fireplace sucking the already heated or cooled air out of the house.

Thank y’all for any help you can provide!!

 

[bholler]

If you want a large double sided open fireplace it is going to suck heated air out of the house. There really is no way around it.
42x23 double sided is a massive volume of air that will have to be moved to evacuate the smoke.

As far as masonry what type of kit are you talking about? $11000 is probably about 1/3 of the cost I would charge for a fireplace that large. I can't see how anyone could do a full masonry unit that large even from a kit for anywhere near that low.

 

[begreen]

24" x 42" is a pretty generous view. Maybe just install it on a higher hearth?

 

[katiemarie7671]

If you want a large double sided open fireplace it is going to suck heated air out of the house. There really is no way around it.
42x23 double sided is a massive volume of air that will have to be moved to evacuate the smoke.

As far as masonry what type of kit are you talking about? $11000 is probably about 1/3 of the cost I would charge for a fireplace that large. I can't see how anyone could do a full masonry unit that large even from a kit for anywhere near that low.

Thank you so much for your input. I obviously don’t know much about fireplaces at all. This is very helpful. There’s a few factors that are keeping the cost of the masonry kit lower. The biggest one is that we live one of the cheapest states to live in. Labor costs are really low here. Also, we’re looking at a firerock kit. It’ll have a metal pipe type chimney instead of going masonry all the way up.

 

[katiemarie7671]

24" x 42" is a pretty generous view. Maybe just install it on a higher hearth?

Ive thought about this too. Thanks!

 

[Ashful]

Depending on specific design and chimney height, you typically need 1 square inch of chimney cross section for each 8 to 10 square inches of fireplace opening. So, 2 x 23 x 42 = 1932 sq in will require 193 - 242 sq in of chimney. That’s a 17 inch diameter pipe, which will require a heck of a lot of make up air.

This is nothing extraordinary, when considering older homes, but it is outside the norm today. It will suck more heat out of your home than it provides, negative net efficiency, but some are okay with that.

Why not two separate inserts or stoves? Is seeing thru it really a top priority?

 

[Ashful]

Depending on specific design and chimney height, you typically need 1 square inch of chimney cross section for each 8 to 10 square inches of fireplace opening. So, 2 x 23 x 42 = 1932 sq in will require 193 - 242 sq in of chimney. That’s a 17 inch diameter pipe, which will require a heck of a lot of make up air.

This is nothing extraordinary, when considering older homes, but it is outside the norm today. It will suck more heat out of your home than it provides, negative net efficiency, but some are okay with that.

Why not two separate inserts or stoves? Is seeing thru it really a top priority?

Oh, and with glass doors, if only ever opening one at a time, you can really cut down the chimney requirement. The numbers I gave above are for open fireplaces.

 

[katiemarie7671]

Oh, and with glass doors, if only ever opening one at a time, you can really cut down the chimney requirement. The numbers I gave above are for open fireplaces.

Oh ok. Yeah we’ll do glass doors for sure. Yes, seeing through it is pretty important. But because of y’all’s advice, we are leaning toward the Heatilator metal insert that’s 42x23 with doors. As opposed to the firerock 42x39 masonry kit. This negative efficiency thing was was honestly something I didn’t know before!

 

[bholler]

Oh, and with glass doors, if only ever opening one at a time, you can really cut down the chimney requirement. The numbers I gave above are for open fireplaces.

Yes if you sealed one side with a price of pyro ceramic glass you could reduce the chimney size. Not just with doors. And that big of a piece of pyro ceram will be pretty expensive.

But regardless they are talking about prefab units so you need to use the specified chimney.

 

[bholler]

Oh ok. Yeah we’ll do glass doors for sure. Yes, seeing through it is pretty important. But because of y’all’s advice, we are leaning toward the Heatilator metal insert that’s 42x23 with doors. As opposed to the firerock 42x39 masonry kit. This negative efficiency thing was was honestly something I didn’t know before!

The majority of open fireplaces are negitivly efficient

 

[katiemarie7671]

The majority of open fireplaces are negitivly efficient

Thank you!

 

[john26]

You might look at a supreme duet high efficiency and see thru
https://supremem.com/duet.php

 

[SpaceBus]

You might look at a supreme duet high efficiency and see thru
https://supremem.com/duet.php

If the manufacturer is truthful about their claims the Vision is a hell of a stove and what I would go with if I were the OP. That thing might actually heat the house. The duet looks like it's more of a aesthetic piece.

 

[katiemarie7671]

You might look at a supreme duet high efficiency and see thru
https://supremem.com/duet.php

Please forgive my ignorance...this appears to be more like a wood stove insert than a fireplace. I honestly am not completely sure of all the differences. Is this something you have personal experience with?

 

[katiemarie7671]

If the manufacturer is truthful about their claims the Vision is a hell of a stove and what I would go with if I were the OP. That thing might actually heat the house. The duet looks like it's more of a aesthetic piece.

So I actually like the idea of doing an Inglenook “hole” for lack of better term, with a stove in the middle. Lots of old English cottages have done this. However my husband hates this idea.

 

[begreen]

Please forgive my ignorance...this appears to be more like a wood stove insert than a fireplace. I honestly am not completely sure of all the differences. Is this something you have personal experience with?

It is, and it has a smaller viewing window, but it would provide much better heating.

So I actually like the idea of doing an Inglenook “hole” for lack of better term, with a stove in the middle. Lots of old English cottages have done this. However my husband hates this idea.

They actually make dual-sided wood stoves in England for this purpose, but these stoves are not sold in the US. The Supreme Duet is the closest to this concept.

 

[katiemarie7671]

It is, and it has a smaller viewing window, but it would provide much better heating.

They actually make dual-sided wood stoves in England for this purpose, but these stoves are not sold in the US. The Supreme Duet is the closest to this concept.

I’ve noticed that the Vision is the only one I could find here. My house has a very cottage feel to it, so I’ve run into a lot of things I like only being available in the UK lol.

 

[begreen]

Yes , the Vision is their freestanding stove. The Duet is a built-in fireplace.

 

[john26]

I did some research on double sided fireplace when I was considering building a new house. My wife does not like the stove look and wanted a fireplace with the mantle this and the Superior only high efficiency double sided I could find. Superior makes a high efficiency fireplace as well but I liked the Supreme duet better. Sumpreme Duet uses 6" insulated like a stove and 8" air gap pipe on the Superior. The Duet seemed more like high effciency unit. As far as I can tell the specs on the duet and the vision are the same. What I liked on the duet is the fact you can connect duct work and run it to a vent. My father in law did this with an old beckwood in his basement. It distributes heat evenly he even ran one over to the air return at the furnace. here is a link to Superior.
(broken link removed to http://superiorfireplaces.us.com/products/wrt4000-multi-view-series)

 

[katiemarie7671]

I did some research on double sided fireplace when I was considering building a new house. My wife does not like the stove look and wanted a fireplace with the mantle this and the Superior only high efficiency double sided I could find. Superior makes a high efficiency fireplace as well but I liked the Supreme duet better. Sumpreme Duet uses 6" insulated like a stove and 8" air gap pipe on the Superior. The Duet seemed more like high effciency unit. As far as I can tell the specs on the duet and the vision are the same. What I liked on the duet is the fact you can connect duct work and run it to a vent. My father in law did this with an old beckwood in his basement. It distributes heat evenly he even ran one over to the air return at the furnace. here is a link to Superior.
(broken link removed to http://superiorfireplaces.us.com/products/wrt4000-multi-view-series)

Oh wow thank you!

 

[barnaclebob]

So I actually like the idea of doing an Inglenook “hole” for lack of better term, with a stove in the middle. Lots of old English cottages have done this. However my husband hates this idea.

Is your husband against stoves in general or just against the see through inglenook?

If my current house had an open fireplace or even and enclosed wood fireplace I'd probably still be anti wood stove. But it didn't and a wood stove was the only option. Now that I have one, I don't think I'd ever want anything else. Everyone who walks into my house in the winter is immediately drawn to the radiated heat. I probably lose several hours of productive time each week because of the warm glow. The only real downside to a wood stove is that you don't get to hear the fire quite as much and don't get to play with the fire as much.

I do agree that having a stove inside a pass through inglenook like that would be ugly from the backside. Most stoves don't put out much heat from the rear and any heat from the sides would go into the surrounding structure.

 

[katiemarie7671]

Is your husband against stoves in general or just against the see through inglenook?

If my current house had an open fireplace or even and enclosed wood fireplace I'd probably still be anti wood stove. But it didn't and a wood stove was the only option. Now that I have one, I don't think I'd ever want anything else. Everyone who walks into my house in the winter is immediately drawn to the radiated heat. I probably lose several hours of productive time each week because of the warm glow. The only real downside to a wood stove is that you don't get to hear the fire quite as much and don't get to play with the fire as much.

I do agree that having a stove inside a pass through inglenook like that would be ugly from the backside. Most stoves don't put out much heat from the rear and any heat from the sides would go into the surrounding structure.

He doesn’t want a stove at all. But especially hates the inglenook idea.

 

[barnaclebob]

He doesn’t want a stove at all. But especially hates the inglenook idea.

Well the Supreme Duet does look like it would meet your needs pretty well, especially if its not needed for heat. If you do go with it be sure to come back and share your experiences.

Id still try to work on your husbands objections to a wood stove though...