We bought an old leaky 2500 sq ft farmhouse in Tennessee. It doesn't get too cold, but the house is leaky enough that we need heat from Nov - March. No gas available so we have expensive electric heat and I'd like to start heating the front of the house (around 2000 sq feet) with wood.
The house has a fireplace and an insert. The insert only takes 16" logs. I filled it up with dry oak and burned it as hot as I could, but it only heat up the front two rooms. There was no blower on the insert, but it seemed fairly modern.
I called a fireplace inspector who was advertising on craigslist. After looking at the chimney he said we needed to pull the insert out and repipe it. However, someone had installed decorative stone over the edges of the fireplace insert, so we had to break the stone off to even get at the unit. Once we pulled it out, we saw that the 8" pipe coming out of the unit had rusted and part of it had fallen.
The guy then pulled all the old pipe out. He noted that the chimney had been extended - the bottom was a 1920s brick chimney, but the top 12 feet or so were tiled (from the history of the house the top portion was probably built in the early 1980s). He also said that the insert would heat the house fine, but it would be better off not as an insert, but as a hearth stove.
So he went to the hardware store and bought black stovepipe. He placed the insert (now stove) on the hearth, ran the stovepipe out of the insert at a 45 degree angle through the fireplace up the chimney and presumably into the portion of the chimney that is tiled. The stovepipe does not continue through the tiled portion of the chimney.
After he left, I lit a fire and got it as hot as I could. Still only heating the front two rooms. I bought a blower and rigged it up - it blew nice warm air, but it still only heat the front two rooms.
Then I thought that maybe I needed to fill up the fireplace more in order to burn hotter, so I put an extra log in. I shut the fireplace door too firmly and cracked the glass on the front. A piece of glass fell out.
Then I noticed that the new 8" pipe connected to the stove was getting red hot, and also that wisps of smoke were coming out of the connection. I don't know much about how it's supposed to work, but that didn't seem right - especially because there was creosote on the old portion of the chimney that seems like it could light up if it got too hot...
So I let the thing burn out and am reassessing the setup.
I have at least two problems: first - I think that my fireplace insert is undersized for my leaky house. The fireplace is way bigger than the insert I have now, so I'd like to buy a bigger used one and would appreciate any tips. There are a few used inserts available near me - one is called a 'Nickerson' and made by 'Granddad Nickerson Stoves'. It looks to be big, heavy, clean, and has a blower, but I'm sure that there are other considerations that I need to look for.
My second problem is with the installation method that the chimney guy used - does it sound like he did it right, or do I need to start from scratch on the installation?
Any advice would be appreciated.
(edited to include pics of installation)
The house has a fireplace and an insert. The insert only takes 16" logs. I filled it up with dry oak and burned it as hot as I could, but it only heat up the front two rooms. There was no blower on the insert, but it seemed fairly modern.
I called a fireplace inspector who was advertising on craigslist. After looking at the chimney he said we needed to pull the insert out and repipe it. However, someone had installed decorative stone over the edges of the fireplace insert, so we had to break the stone off to even get at the unit. Once we pulled it out, we saw that the 8" pipe coming out of the unit had rusted and part of it had fallen.
The guy then pulled all the old pipe out. He noted that the chimney had been extended - the bottom was a 1920s brick chimney, but the top 12 feet or so were tiled (from the history of the house the top portion was probably built in the early 1980s). He also said that the insert would heat the house fine, but it would be better off not as an insert, but as a hearth stove.
So he went to the hardware store and bought black stovepipe. He placed the insert (now stove) on the hearth, ran the stovepipe out of the insert at a 45 degree angle through the fireplace up the chimney and presumably into the portion of the chimney that is tiled. The stovepipe does not continue through the tiled portion of the chimney.
After he left, I lit a fire and got it as hot as I could. Still only heating the front two rooms. I bought a blower and rigged it up - it blew nice warm air, but it still only heat the front two rooms.
Then I thought that maybe I needed to fill up the fireplace more in order to burn hotter, so I put an extra log in. I shut the fireplace door too firmly and cracked the glass on the front. A piece of glass fell out.
Then I noticed that the new 8" pipe connected to the stove was getting red hot, and also that wisps of smoke were coming out of the connection. I don't know much about how it's supposed to work, but that didn't seem right - especially because there was creosote on the old portion of the chimney that seems like it could light up if it got too hot...
So I let the thing burn out and am reassessing the setup.
I have at least two problems: first - I think that my fireplace insert is undersized for my leaky house. The fireplace is way bigger than the insert I have now, so I'd like to buy a bigger used one and would appreciate any tips. There are a few used inserts available near me - one is called a 'Nickerson' and made by 'Granddad Nickerson Stoves'. It looks to be big, heavy, clean, and has a blower, but I'm sure that there are other considerations that I need to look for.
My second problem is with the installation method that the chimney guy used - does it sound like he did it right, or do I need to start from scratch on the installation?
Any advice would be appreciated.
(edited to include pics of installation)
