Hello folks.
New here. I have been dithering for a few years about replacing my current oil burning warm air heat with something else. It will probably be gas, after I considered a pellet furnace and decided it was not for me, or the N. NJ area. Too unusual for an area this wealthy, it would be tough if I ever sell. Not to mention Insurance.
But I am going to get a wood burning insert for my existing fireplace. This is for supplemental heat on weekends and other times I am at home, to keep the bills down, as well as to make the fireplace more usable.
I am not choosing pellet burning because I want to be able to burn fallen wood from my property as well as putting junk-mail to good use, in addition to free and purchased firewood.
Home is a <1500 sq ft ranch, wood frame, wood shingle outside walls, drywall inside, 8 foot ceilings, typical mid 1950's vintage. Decent attic insulation, I added R30 just after purchase, wall insulation is middling to poor. Full basement. Not a tight house, but not too drafty.
FP is about 36 inches wide and 26 inches high. It is 26 inches deep measured about halfway up, deeper at the floor and shallower at the top. Mantle is all brick, no wood surround or shelf.
The chimney is solid brick masonry, two flues, standard red clay tile flue lining, not sure of the size, (8x8?) three sides of the chimney are exposed outside the house, currently working and safe. Cleaned every couple of years, but I only use it a few times a year, autumn and spring. I will use the insert a lot more, most every weekend.
I had the flue for the oil furnace lined with SS liner two years ago due to the top of the flue breaking off and flaking inside. The flue for the fireplace was OK at the last cleaning, though I am seeing flakes some starting to come off it. There is a SS cap for the FP, with a top damper operated by a SS cable, the lower damper plate was removed to allow for this, though I still have the plate in the basement.
I assume I will need to line the FP flue, since it seems to be near end-of-life, certainly no more than a few years before it starts to seriously fail. So might as well line it when I do the insert.
So, questions:
Is installing the SS liner something you can do DIY easily and what is involved, including capping or sealing the flue to prevent downdraft and heat loss? How about cleaning?
I am reasonable handy, (sweating pipes, drywall, re-wiring the house, new kitchen including tile floor). See below before you answer this though.
Same questions for the insert, including attaching the liner to the insert.
Now the big question: I have read a bunch on the plus and minus of external combustion air. While I certainly do not need it to improve draft, since my house is not that tight, I am thinking of it from the standpoint of not pulling cold air in when using the insert. It seems far more efficient from a heating standpoint to not pull cold air into the house.
Is outside combustion air even possible with an insert, if so, how is it accomplished?
A separate conduit or something up the flue next to the liner?
A conduit through the ash-door in the FP floor and down out through the clean in the basement? That does not seem to buy much, just drawing air into the basement instead of the living space.
If it involves breaking through the masonry I think that may be too much.
Are there other considerations here? Does pulling the cold air in help keep smoke or CO1 down?
I look forward to any help you provide.
New here. I have been dithering for a few years about replacing my current oil burning warm air heat with something else. It will probably be gas, after I considered a pellet furnace and decided it was not for me, or the N. NJ area. Too unusual for an area this wealthy, it would be tough if I ever sell. Not to mention Insurance.
But I am going to get a wood burning insert for my existing fireplace. This is for supplemental heat on weekends and other times I am at home, to keep the bills down, as well as to make the fireplace more usable.
I am not choosing pellet burning because I want to be able to burn fallen wood from my property as well as putting junk-mail to good use, in addition to free and purchased firewood.
Home is a <1500 sq ft ranch, wood frame, wood shingle outside walls, drywall inside, 8 foot ceilings, typical mid 1950's vintage. Decent attic insulation, I added R30 just after purchase, wall insulation is middling to poor. Full basement. Not a tight house, but not too drafty.
FP is about 36 inches wide and 26 inches high. It is 26 inches deep measured about halfway up, deeper at the floor and shallower at the top. Mantle is all brick, no wood surround or shelf.
The chimney is solid brick masonry, two flues, standard red clay tile flue lining, not sure of the size, (8x8?) three sides of the chimney are exposed outside the house, currently working and safe. Cleaned every couple of years, but I only use it a few times a year, autumn and spring. I will use the insert a lot more, most every weekend.
I had the flue for the oil furnace lined with SS liner two years ago due to the top of the flue breaking off and flaking inside. The flue for the fireplace was OK at the last cleaning, though I am seeing flakes some starting to come off it. There is a SS cap for the FP, with a top damper operated by a SS cable, the lower damper plate was removed to allow for this, though I still have the plate in the basement.
I assume I will need to line the FP flue, since it seems to be near end-of-life, certainly no more than a few years before it starts to seriously fail. So might as well line it when I do the insert.
So, questions:
Is installing the SS liner something you can do DIY easily and what is involved, including capping or sealing the flue to prevent downdraft and heat loss? How about cleaning?
I am reasonable handy, (sweating pipes, drywall, re-wiring the house, new kitchen including tile floor). See below before you answer this though.
Same questions for the insert, including attaching the liner to the insert.
Now the big question: I have read a bunch on the plus and minus of external combustion air. While I certainly do not need it to improve draft, since my house is not that tight, I am thinking of it from the standpoint of not pulling cold air in when using the insert. It seems far more efficient from a heating standpoint to not pull cold air into the house.
Is outside combustion air even possible with an insert, if so, how is it accomplished?
A separate conduit or something up the flue next to the liner?
A conduit through the ash-door in the FP floor and down out through the clean in the basement? That does not seem to buy much, just drawing air into the basement instead of the living space.
If it involves breaking through the masonry I think that may be too much.
Are there other considerations here? Does pulling the cold air in help keep smoke or CO1 down?
I look forward to any help you provide.
