open fireplace or wood stove in kitchen

[mooch]

We live in an old farmhouse. The kitchen has a fireplace which currently has an old wood stove insert. We heat our house mainly with an outdoor wood burner with our baseboard hot water. the kitchen and dining room are always cold (1/2 the kitchen is on a slab) and every winter I end up using an electric heater in there. I want to use my fireplace for supplemental heat. I am going to get either a new wood stove insert or just convert it back to an open fire. I like the ambience of an open fire but probably wont get as much heat as a wood stove. I would get a wood stove with glass front and I suppose that would have some ambience but not the same as cooking in the kitchen in the winter with a crackling fire going. My question is would I get enough heat from the fireplace. I am not trying to heat the whole house, just the kitchen and the dining room a little (both rooms open to each other).

 

[jonyyuma]

Okay, this will probably really draw the fire to you and Me. But, If you use an open Fireplace , you can lose a very high percentage of the heat right up the flue. Then the fire dies down and it draws more heat up the flue. I used the Gov. site on fireplaces and stoves for my Info...Check it out from real statistics. They proved it out...I believe in air-tight stoves and inserts with thermostats. I'm sure this thread will prove to be interesting?

 

[turnkey4099]

We live in an old farmhouse. The kitchen has a fireplace which currently has an old wood stove insert. We heat our house mainly with an outdoor wood burner with our baseboard hot water. the kitchen and dining room are always cold (1/2 the kitchen is on a slab) and every winter I end up using an electric heater in there. I want to use my fireplace for supplemental heat. I am going to get either a new wood stove insert or just convert it back to an open fire. I like the ambience of an open fire but probably wont get as much heat as a wood stove. I would get a wood stove with glass front and I suppose that would have some ambience but not the same as cooking in the kitchen in the winter with a crackling fire going. My question is would I get enough heat from the fireplace. I am not trying to heat the whole house, just the kitchen and the dining room a little (both rooms open to each other).

An open fireplace is about the most perfect device ever for wasting wood. Use one for the ambiance but forget about heating a room with one.

I got my education on them when I installed an expensive zero clearance circulating fireplace, came with vents, etc. Came a below zero day and no matter how much I fed that thing the temperature in the room would drop.

Harry K

 

[Verticaltrx]

I agree with others on the inefficiency of a fireplace, however...

The house I grew up in was equipped with a wood stove in the center of the house and a fireplace in every room. The wood stove was primarily used for heat, but if you wanted more heat in a given room you just start a fire in the fireplace. Since they do pull a lot of air into the room, it would pull the warm air from where the wood stove was and heat the room up nicely. The fireplace by itself would put very little heat into the room.

 

[handirifle]

I live in the central coast region of California, and we recently built a new home. We wanted a wood burning fireplace, and got one. I have zero regrets. It is a Kozy Heat brand, and it is 100% airtight when the doors are closed. It draws the combustion from a duct leading outside the house. It also has a forced air fan, with a variable speed blower. There was only 5 fireplaces approved for this county, believe it or not. It is due to emissions. It burns as clean as one with a catalytic converter, but it has none, so I have none of the hassles that go with them.

My home is 2150 sq ft, and it will easily heat the home. I do not think it would produce as much heat as a free standing stove, but that wasn't one of your stated options. The Kozy Heat wasn't cheap, at $5,000, but it suits us perfectly.

Given your stated choices, I'd go for a high efficiency insert, otherwise your money is better spent on a space heater.

 

[pat32rf]

First choice would be an airtite fireplace with outside combustion air source, but a Rumstead (sp?) style open fireplace can also put out more heat than it wastes. Google Count Rumstead.
We used to have one in our kitchen/family room and once we started it in the morning, the electric furnace which normally heated that part of the house, would stay off all day...

 

[tmajor]

The fireplace, which I built in my "marital residence" had a Heatalator insert, where the back and sides were double walled steel. It made a lot of heat, however it came down to the fact, that I could use the heat, but couldn't be there all the time to watch and tend the fireplace. So, I eventually, installed an airtight wood stove in front and used the chimney.

Where I live now, I built a regular masonry fireplace, which burned like mad, but didn't throw that much heat. So ... I built a double sided steel insert (similar to the Heatalator), with front, top and bottom sealed, to slide into the fireplace. The outer wall fit right against the inner firebrick. The inner steel wall is 3" from the outer wall. There is a pair of openings at the bottom for cold air in and a pair of openings at the top for hot air out. I also included baffles between the two steel walls. This insert made a huge difference in the heat output of the open fireplace. I had gotten glass doors, but the directions said "the doors has to be open, while burning". Since I would have to modify them to fit, I took them back.

I like it! :thumbsup:

Also, note in the pictures, there is an outside air damper in front of the fire.

 

[mooch]

thanks for the replies. On the way home yesterday I stopped in yet another shop and bought a quadrafire stove. Supposed to be very efficient and plus they had a leftover model at a great price.

 

[forgeblast]

I have a quadrfire, nice stove. Mine is about 15 years old, only thing i had to do was change out the door seal and replace a few firebricks.