Hello,
We are in the midst of a major home renovation. As part of the reno, we are turning an open-plan living room/dining room/kitchen area into a master suite. There is a wood-burning fireplace in what will now become the master bedroom. At a walkthrough with the HVAC trades, one said there would be a make-up air issue with the new plan. He said we couldn't keep it as a wood-burning fireplace without adding a vent/opening to the rest of the house through a wall in the bedroom. Otherwise it won't pass inspection (we are in Virginia).
The bedroom is essentially 17' X 15', directly connecting to a 6' X 9' hallway (ie no door between). The hallway connects (through doors) to an office that is 10' X 10' and a bathroom that is 6' X 17'. The hallway connects (via door) to the rest of the house.
The designer put me in touch with a local fireplace store to discuss options. They said that anything would be fine, and don't feel there is a make-up air issue. The HVAC people are equally sure that we have to do something to pass inspection. Their recommendation was to turn it to gas or add an opening to the rest of the house.
I can't get a straight answer as to what I have to do. I have a meeting set up with a chimney firm to see if they think we could just install an outside air kit into the fireplace. If we turn it to gas, a gas log set won't work, right? There would still be the make-up air issue with that? So I would have to do a vented gas insert? The fireplace store brought up a wood-burning insert. If we install that, will that fix any potential make-up air issue since those are more efficient, or does that not matter? Are there wood-burning inserts that have their own air intakes, like a vented gas insert?
I like wood-burning, and prefer to keep costs down, but am not opposed to a gas setup. My wife is concerned with wood smoke odors in the bedroom, so I would think a wood-burning insert or gas setup would greatly diminish any odor in the bedroom. The house has two stacked fireplaces, that use one chimney but two separate flue systems, with caps. Prior to the reno, I did notice that there would be a soot smell in the basement if we used the upper fireplace. Not the other way around, though. They have been inspected and cleaned and nothing unusual was noted.
Thank you for any input, and for reading through all of this.
Michael
We are in the midst of a major home renovation. As part of the reno, we are turning an open-plan living room/dining room/kitchen area into a master suite. There is a wood-burning fireplace in what will now become the master bedroom. At a walkthrough with the HVAC trades, one said there would be a make-up air issue with the new plan. He said we couldn't keep it as a wood-burning fireplace without adding a vent/opening to the rest of the house through a wall in the bedroom. Otherwise it won't pass inspection (we are in Virginia).
The bedroom is essentially 17' X 15', directly connecting to a 6' X 9' hallway (ie no door between). The hallway connects (through doors) to an office that is 10' X 10' and a bathroom that is 6' X 17'. The hallway connects (via door) to the rest of the house.
The designer put me in touch with a local fireplace store to discuss options. They said that anything would be fine, and don't feel there is a make-up air issue. The HVAC people are equally sure that we have to do something to pass inspection. Their recommendation was to turn it to gas or add an opening to the rest of the house.
I can't get a straight answer as to what I have to do. I have a meeting set up with a chimney firm to see if they think we could just install an outside air kit into the fireplace. If we turn it to gas, a gas log set won't work, right? There would still be the make-up air issue with that? So I would have to do a vented gas insert? The fireplace store brought up a wood-burning insert. If we install that, will that fix any potential make-up air issue since those are more efficient, or does that not matter? Are there wood-burning inserts that have their own air intakes, like a vented gas insert?
I like wood-burning, and prefer to keep costs down, but am not opposed to a gas setup. My wife is concerned with wood smoke odors in the bedroom, so I would think a wood-burning insert or gas setup would greatly diminish any odor in the bedroom. The house has two stacked fireplaces, that use one chimney but two separate flue systems, with caps. Prior to the reno, I did notice that there would be a soot smell in the basement if we used the upper fireplace. Not the other way around, though. They have been inspected and cleaned and nothing unusual was noted.
Thank you for any input, and for reading through all of this.
Michael
