FIGURE 7 DIRECT-VENT GAS FIREPLACE

7. INSTALL A WOOD STOVE, FIREPLACE INSERT, OR ADVANCED FIREPLACE.

There are wood-burning equipment alternatives that offer an improvement over a conventional wood-burn-
ing fireplace that may only be 10% efficient. These include wood stoves, fireplace inserts, and advanced
fireplace cores. The performance of wood-burning systems varies dramatically with the type of equipment,
the type of wood being burned, the wood’s moisture content, and the way it is maintained and operated.
Wood stoves without air controls, such as Franklin stoves, have efficiencies of 20% to 30%. Stoves
with controlled air inlets into primary and secondary combustion areas can have efficiencies as high as 55%.
Advanced designs can have efficiencies as high as 75%. The more efficient systems require much less excess
air for combustion and produce lower levels of incomplete combustion products which produce creosote.
Wood-burning fireplace inserts are designed to fit into existing fireplaces to improve their heat-
ing performance. Some stoves sit on an existing fireplace hearth and vent up the chimney.
In response to some Western-state ordinances banning the installation of a traditional fireplace,
manufacturers responded with fireplaces that meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) standards
for wood stoves. These units are as efficient as the advanced wood stoves. They are air-tight with gasketed
doors and a pyro-ceramic glass window that allows the infrared heat from the flame into the room. The
advanced fireplace has an insulated casing to reduce heat loss through the outside wall of the house. A squir-
rel-cage fan is used to draw room air in and around the casing to pick up additional convective heat and sup-
ply it to the room. Heat output is controlled by the amount of outside air intake for combustion. Some even
allow for short duct runs to distribute heat via natural convection to isolated rooms. RSF Energy produces a
fireplace system that can supply a whole-house duct system with an in-line blower and thermostats (Fig. 8).
The Rumford-style fireplace designed by Jim Buckley is one of the only masonry fireplaces that
meets most air quality standards. A fireplace kit is available for the construction of a masonry fireplace
based upon the traditional Rumford design. The kit includes a one-piece curved clay throat, a clay flue tile
liner, a smoke chamber, a stainless-steel damper, and optional glass doors.
ADVANTAGES: Higher efficiency than a conventional wood-burning fireplace.
DISADVANTAGES: Can be subject to wood-burning bans when local air quality standards are not met.
Requires maintenance to prevent the dangerous build up of creosote.

FURTHER READING
“Back to the Future Fireplace,” This Old House, January/February 1997, pp.74-79.
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