We recently bought a tri-level house built in 1973.
In the sunken family room there is a huge red brick wood fireplace that had a woodstove ducked into the chimney by way of the face.
After we removed the woodstove we built a fire.
All of the smoke rolled right out and filled the whole house. After putting the fire out I noticed that the hole to the flue was only as big as a single red brick. The bricks on the top inside appear to be 4in fire bricks…and no damper. I do not know for sure if this is typical as this is the first brick fireplace I have owned all the rest were inserts. How can I remedy this so I can enjoy this lovely fireplace in the winter without dying from Carbon Monoxide poisoning? Also the lathe on both sides of the inside are exposed inside. I don’t remember ever seeing them on any of my previous fireplaces.
Please no mean or nasty comments, the previous owners were using the woodstove as a secondary heat source a week before we moved in and had stated they just got the chimney cleaned a month prior.

Technorati Tags: brick fireplace, carbon monoxide, chimney, damper, fire bricks, Fireplaces, first brick, flue, heat source, lathe, nasty comments, red brick, tri level, wood fireplace, woodstove

I like gas-only fireplaces, but are they costly to operate?
I like contemporary, minimalist "ribbon of fire" fireplaces (which look great), but do they give off much heat? (Heating capability is important to me.)

Technorati Tags: capability, Fireplaces, ribbon

My whole house is radiant heat by propane gas. During the winters here in Maine we can burn through a lot and it gets expensive. I like fireplaces but do not want the mess of a wood fireplace so I was looking the route of a pellet fireplace. Can anyone tell me if they are economical and possibly how much pellets were used during winter months?

Technorati Tags: Fireplaces, maine, pellet fireplace, pellets, propane gas, radiant heat, wood fireplace

We have two fireplaces in a big house which does not warm so much, so my boyfriend bought an 19c. woodburning stove which does warm a larger area, but leaves a soot all over the house, which makes me think we are also breathing that. I have actually thought of leaving. The house is closed and this bad air inside worries so much. I have trouble breathing and cant do much effort because it makes breath hard. I have no previous breathing problems, but think that now i could aquire it. This is causing us to fight, specially when he says he likes it and that is that. What to do?

Technorati Tags: big house, breathing problems, Fireplaces, soot, trouble breathing, woodburning stove, worries

It seems that biomass is currently being used a lot in developing countries, but I heard the burning and distilling was a costly process.

Burning wood in fireplaces of course, is a biomass energy process.

But does anyone know of countries in the world that are currently using biomass energy, or alike?

Thanks ; )

Technorati Tags: biomass energy, countries in the world, developing countries, Fireplaces

i’m not talking about stoves and ovens with the heated metal, but fire made from matches, and put in wood or fireplaces. like fiery furnaces where swords and jewelry are made

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My older sister and i bought three bags of scenceted pinecones. the ones that come around the holidays and smell like cinnnamon. i put some in the fireplace and turned on our fireplace and my mother freaked out and said not to put them in there because the fireplace is electric. i asked her why it was dangerous and she even said she didnt know but just to be pre-cautious.
so now i ask you guys, is it bad???
we’ve done it in our previous houses but those fireplaces were real and it made the house smell nice!

[[and is it okay to make smores in that type of fireplace too ??? ]

Technorati Tags: fireplace, Fireplaces, holidays, older sister

know if I can do that or not.
A friend remodeled their house and had never used the fireplace so they don’t know if it was wood or gas….So how do I find out? Or does it even make a difference?
Also I know I have to build a chimney, is that something that is really expensive to do or can we do it pretty reasonable?
So are you saying if it is a gas fireplace you can not burn wood in it?
There are some fireplaces that can do either or, right?
I guess I should be little more clear,lol.
We have not installed this yet. I want to knock out a window and put in the fireplace, so the depth of it would be outside rather than taking up the space inside. So inside on the wall would be the mantel. Out side we would have to build around the unit and put a chimney up. What I am wondering is the people we got it from never used it but said it was wood or gas but was hesitate so we want to be safe. It is older unit so I dont want to take any chances. It didnt come with any gas piping but that doesnt mean when they remodeled they didnt get rid of it. So I want to know is there a way to tell if it is either or gas or wood or can it be both like they said? And the chimney part I am just curious if anyone has built a chimney and if so is it rather expensive, I heard to do a chimney out of river rock its like .00 a sq ft and that is rather expensive. Is brick cheaper?
Thanks everyone, I am not looking to be cheap and blow up my house,lol

Technorati Tags: brick, chimney, Fireplaces, gas fireplace, gas piping, mantel, sq ft

Recently it has been getting colder, and many times houses in neighborhood use fireplaces. I usually run at night when the fireplaces are in use and was wondering if running with the smell of wood smoke is bad for my health. I am not running with visible smoke in front of me, but can definitely smell the wood burning. What is your take on this?

Technorati Tags: Fireplaces, health, neighborhood, wood burning, wood smoke

i eventually want to do all three of these things. in what order should i do them in order to maximize my return on investment in the event i had to move and sell before i completed all three things? there is currently a fireplace now but it is ugly painted white brick and want to replace it with a floor to 5 foot high mantle with granite worked in and a gas fireplace log set. the whole cost of that job would be 5k. i have read that fireplaces add more value as far as home improvements go than any other improvement.

the current kitchen was from the 1960s and redoing that with granite countertops and new cabinets and tile and a new fridge and oven would probably be 10k-15k for the quality we wanted.

adding a bathroom to the basement would change the house from 1 to 2 baths and would probably cost about 5k for the level of quality we wanted.

how should i order these projects?

Technorati Tags: 1960s, adding a bathroom, baths, brick, Fireplaces, fridge, gas fireplace log, granite countertops, home improvements, job, mantle, new cabinets, return on investment, tile