Inside Fireplace

“Anyone use one of these in their inside fireplace?

http://www.fireplacemall.com/Fireback__Stainless_Steel_and_/fireback__stainless_steel_and_.html

I am wondering if they really reflect that much heat out into the room.”

“They are absolutely wonderful, the savings are enormous. Buy a dozen.”

“Looks like more trouble than it's worth.
Got to keep it clean to reflect well.”

“IMO you're better off with an insert. Lots of them up here.”

“Do not listen to those guys; they are not your friends. I will steer you straight.”

“What is an insert?”

“It's essentially an air-tight stove that fits into the fireplace - that is it protudes from it - and is fitted to a chimney liner. It turns an inefficient fireplace into an effective space heater. On most models you can have a nice fire with the door(s) open and heat most of your home for the night with the doors closed.”

“What is an insert?”
Wounded Knee
10:42:35 AM
11/07/07


Well, when a daddy really loves mommy, sometimes they go in to the other room while you're asleep......”

“I have a fire place insert, and it works very well, but remember that a insert uses a blower to move the heat out into the room. A insert will also radiate heat without the blower but the fire has to be controlled more to avoid overheating the mantle area above it, with the blower in use that is not a issue. The reflecter ideas is somewhat a good idea, but most of the heat is still going up the stack. If you really want to keep the fireplace open you could attach another reflecter plate to the verticle one at a 90 degree angle a couple of inches below the stack open. This will cause the heat to travel around the plate and let the heat radiate outward before upward. The more metal you can get to soak up the heat before it leaves the fireplace the more heat can be used into the room or at least right in front of the fireplace.”

“What is an insert?”
Wounded Knee
10:42:35 AM
11/07/07


Well, when a daddy really loves mommy, sometimes they go in to the other room while you're asleep......”
Nonconformist
9:13:09 AM
11/07/07

EEEEWWWWWWW, please tell me they still don't do this!”

“Okay, while I love the idea of the insert, I was not planning on investing this much into it. We hope to move in the next 2 to 3 years so I may explore it then.”

“You could take an alumimun oven liner pan and glue it the the back wall of the fireplace (poor man's refector).
I'm sure the wife would approve. ;-)”

“Definately wait until you can get an insert or full wood stove. No maetter what you put on/in a fireplace you'll be lucky to get 10% efficiency from it. Many have negative efficiencies - the room gets colder because it sucks more heat up the chimney than you get from the fire. Compare that with the worst modern stove at 70% eff. and better ones get mid-80's.”

“Tech's right (of course), I installed a wood stove and it's been cranking steady for more than 24 hours. It's a nice comfy 68 here right now and about 35 outside. The front door is glass, thus providing some of that fireplace ambience. My old farmhouse is 1600 sq ft, 2 stories, and even without floor registers, the upstairs stays reasonably warm.”

“And in the same room as the woodstove it's a nice balmy 84°. =D”

“39 out right now, 72 in, often warmer. Love wood heat.”

“You could move your sofas a bit closer to the fire. That helps a lot.”

“I have a 2800 square foot home and I completely heat my home with a fireplace incert and one portable radiator style electric heater.I have central heat and air but after the first winter here I decided not to use it anymore.”

“The next best thing to the low low gas bill is all the exercise one gets from heating with wood!”

“I have a "gel can" indoor fireplace that came with my condo- has a nice fake log and metal screen - with 3 cans blazing away in the firebox it throws off nice heat and looks good too. They threw in a case of gel cans too but I gotta use it soon - it was bought in Y2K!”

“My place is 2700 sq. feet and I get about 80% of my heat from the stove. The heat pump upstairs will kick on overnight when its below 50 outside - but ironically that's due to fire safety. We sleep with our bedroom doors closed at night, and did long before the wood stove. When the doors are open the other 16 hours of the day, upstairs will stay comfortable down to the teens outside.”

“Whatever happened to the "Heat-a-laters?" They were fire grates made of tubes that drew air in through the bottom and pushed the "warmer air" into the room. The pricey ones had a blower.”