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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Heating with a fireplace

Dec. 20, 2009 2:34 p.m. CarKid1989 HalfDork

We have a fireplace in our basement, and we used to use it a lot before the basement was finished (10+ yrs ago) now my brother and i have started to use it again.

It has a fan on it to blow out hot air, and the basement is probably around 70 degrees constantly now (fully insulated too)

I want to get more out of the fireplace.

We added vent drop ceiling tiles above the fireplace to help the heat go throughout the house. Seemed to help a bit.

What else can i do to get the most heat out of this fireplace? (burning only wood BTW)

Thanks
Dec. 20, 2009 5:38 p.m. jrw1621 Dork

Fan(s):
The metal is hot, blow a box fan at the metal to help get that heat off the metal and into the room.
Use additional fans to create circulation of that heat throughout the house or at least into other rooms.

Also, add a tea kettle filled with water and set it on the top of the stove. If not a tea ketle, any stove top cookware filled with water will do. As the water heats, it will vapor off and add humidity to the room. This humidity will increase the "feeling" of heat in the room. Be sure to check the water level often since it will disapear.
Dec. 20, 2009 6:35 p.m. aircooled SuperDork

What about some sort of intercooler type thing attached to the exhaust pipe with a fan blowing through it? A huge amount of heat will go out the chimney on most fire places / ovens.

If you try you could probably make it look pretty crazy JDM yo!!!
Dec. 20, 2009 6:47 p.m. senador New Reader

That is a great idea! I had to google it and here are some ebay choices

http://shop.ebay.com/sis.html?_kw=WOOD+OIL+BURNING+HEATING+STOVE+FLUE+PIPE+HEAT+EX...

I am sure some one could fab up a heat exchanger using an old intercooler or exhast.
Dec. 20, 2009 7:39 p.m. wbjones HalfDork

there used to be a device called a "heatalater" (sp) don't remember much about it other than it was some type of (air) heat exchanger that then would be forced through the rest of the house through some ducting ...
Dec. 20, 2009 8:50 p.m. patgizz Dork

i think my dad has one of those heat exchangers new in the box that you put in the chimney pipe to take more heat out of it that he would sell you. he was going to use it in his wood furnace install but the thing puts out so much heat it was unnecessary
Dec. 20, 2009 10:28 p.m. porksboy Dork

If you have access to the duct work for the central heat/ air you could force air into it with a fan blowing across the wood stove. + 1 on the tea kettle.

You might want to make sure the flue pipe is clean, specially that horizontal section. Horizontal sections have a tendancy to accumulate a lot of creasote build up.

My father has a wood burning furnace in his basement that is ducted thru the HVAC to the rest of the house. If he fires it up above a slow simmer it will run you out of a 4 bedroom house. His fireplace is a double wall set up with thermostatically controled blowers that are also ducted thru the HVAC.

Not to thread jack but has anyone hed any experiance with a soap stone wood stove? Similar to a regular steel one but made of soap stone. i suposedly hold the heat and acts as a sink to keep warm even when the fire is low.
Dec. 21, 2009 12:20 a.m. Trans_Maro HalfDork

wbjones wrote:

there used to be a device called a "heatalater" (sp) don't remember much about it other than it was some type of (air) heat exchanger that then would be forced through the rest of the house through some ducting ...

My in-laws have one. It works great.

Shawn
Dec. 21, 2009 7:55 a.m. Rza HalfDork

Stirling Fan!
Dec. 21, 2009 8:00 a.m. Jeff Dork

Before we moved, I was about to add an insert to the house in CO. I was going to go with soapstone. I saw one hooked up at a fireplace shop in Fort Collins and thought is was worth it. It's a little more tricky to get a fire going, but once it's started it gives a much more even heat for longer period of time.
Dec. 21, 2009 9:10 a.m. 914Driver UltraDork

One of these moves a lot of air:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200331508_20033...

Think about lining the back wall in brick or stone, it stores and returns heat but it's also safer. Hot sheetrock is bad.

BTW, that's more of a Ben Franklin Stove than a fireplace.

Dan
Dec. 21, 2009 1:41 p.m. iceracer HalfDork

No fireplace, just a wood stove.
To paraphrase Dan.
Dec. 21, 2009 1:59 p.m. Dr. Hess PowerDork

Yeah, wood stove, not fireplace.

Even a small fan blowing across the stove will do wonders. I hooked up a 5" 12V muffin fan salvaged from something or other and I have it on the floor blowing towards the stove. It adds a good 5 degrees to the upstairs.

I still maintain that the majority of the heat realized from a wood stove is that generated by cutting, splitting hauling, and stacking the firewood in the first place.
Dec. 21, 2009 7:46 p.m. wbjones HalfDork

ya, heating with wood is a two time heater... the cutting and the burning
Dec. 22, 2009 9:17 a.m. iceracer HalfDork

Don't forget the ashes.

Down side, increase of house fires in winter due to faulty wood stoves.
Dec. 22, 2009 10:18 a.m. joey48442 SuperDork

iceracer wrote:

Don't forget the ashes.

Down side, increase of house fires in winter due to faulty wood stoves.

I think it's more improperly maintained, rather than faulty stoves.

Joey
Dec. 22, 2009 11:56 a.m. 4cylndrfury Dork

914Driver wrote:

Think about lining the back wall in brick or stone, it stores and returns heat but it's also safer. Hot sheetrock is bad.

Dan

Dan, look into Chicago Firebrick refractories. You can buy 50# of 3000° "concrete" (actually contains no portland cement, but it is pourable like concrete) for less than $1 per lb if you look for it - I found it at a boiler supply and maintenance place. It sets up rock hard and can be cast into a slab, or even an exchanger if you plan it right.
Dec. 22, 2009 1:30 p.m. Marjorie Suddard General Manager

Tim and I heated our first house with a wood stove. This sounds more impressive until you remember we're in Florida, but that first year we had a week-plus of below-freezing temperatures every night, so I know what it's like to stumble out of bed to feed the beast. And to want to do everything you can to make the thing give off more heat.

First off, add me to the chorus of people wanting you to do something about that wall behind the stove. There are minimum clearances to combustible materials for freestanding woodstove installation, and yours looks awful close--especially if there's no clearance reduction kit installed (basically a metal plate that's installed with a couple inches airspace between it and the stove).

Not only is hot sheetrock bad, but wood framing that's been consistently exposed to high temperatures actually develops a LOWER combustion point over time... meaning that even if your wall isn't going up in flames now, it one day decide to.

Also, look into catalytic converter for your stove--lets you get more heat out of a smaller fire--and fans to move the hot air from around the stove and into the room.

Happy burning.

Margie
Dec. 22, 2009 2:07 p.m. Shaun Reader

Make sure the seals(s) are good, if not- R&R.
Dec. 22, 2009 9:29 p.m. Supercoupe Reader

I started using a pellet stove this year in the family/kitchen/dining/entertainment portion of the house and now no one want's to go back in to the living room anymore.

It only needs 6" on the sides and rear of the unit and you can actually touch the rear and sides while it's running and it's only moderately warm. It does a 28 X 30 portion of the downstairs and flows nicely up the cathedral opening to the second floor bedrooms.

I have been toying with the idea of an 8" pipe with an in-line blower to push it through the ceiling to the front living area of the house.

The good is I haven't bought any oil since the challenge and still have 1/2 to 5/8 of a tank left. Normally I would have refilled by Thanksgiving and then again by New Years. Of course the pellets have gotten a little pricey this year and quality varies a lot. The good pellets only leave a cup of ash on a 40 lb bag while the inferior one's leave a few cups. Which translates into a little extra cleaning between bags.
Dec. 23, 2009 6:10 a.m. 914Driver UltraDork

I'm doing a pellet stove next year. I like the heat and smell of wood but I'm just tired of hiking this stuff around the yard, cleaning the stove, chimney, sweeping up bark and ashes.

Call me old.
Dec. 23, 2009 7:27 a.m. foxtrapper UltraDork

That's a wood stove, not a fireplace.

I've heated my whole house with one. Air circulation is key.

Wood stove alone, heat that end of the room. Woodstove with its blower, heat that room. Woodstove with its blower and ceiling fans, heat the hole house.

In my current house, it's two stories. I use a 6" duct with an inline fan to pull the heat from above the wood stove and blow it upstairs. Passive heat will rise up an open staircase, but not nearly as well.
Dec. 23, 2009 8:19 a.m. mad_machine PowerDork

I knew a hardware stove that not only sold the pellet stoves and the pellets.. but used three of them to heat their store.

Was the most toasty warehouse space to go for parts in winter..
Dec. 23, 2009 4:10 p.m. poopshovel UltraDork

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