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Chimney & Fireplaces/Converting back to a masonry fireplace

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Expert: - 1/24/2008


Question
Sorry if this has been answered, I looked in past questions and was surprised not to find my answer.  I am looking at buying a 100 yr old house.  It's inefficient, big, but beautiful.  It has one chimney, and two fireplaces.  One in the living room and one directly above in the master bedroom.  A woodburning stove insert with an electric blower has been placed in the fireplace downstairs.  While I'm sure that was more efficient, I want the fireplace for looks.  I'll be getting an inspection before I do anything, but want to know how easy it is to convert back to a wood burning fireplace?  How inefficient are fireplaces exactly?  I'm not looking for it to heat the 2200 sq feet.  If you have the flue closed and no fire does it loose a lot of heat?  When people talk about inefficientcy, are they just saying for the amt of wood being burned you aren't getting a lot of the heat, or would I actually be loosing heat that my boiler is supplying to the radiators?  Secondly, I'm guessing that it has two seperate sections in the chimney for each fireplace.  I don't ever see why I'd do this, but can you burn both fireplaces at the same time?

Answer
Holly,

I'm glad to hear your investing in an inspection prior to using your 100 year old chimneys. As for efficiency, open fireplaces are a net lose overall. Don't be surprised to hear that your chimneys will require liners for both flues. Damper can most certainly be installed to prevent heat loss when the chimneys are not in operation. Yes you should be able to burn both fireplace at the same time.

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Randy Brooks

Expertise

Inspection of Masonry, Pre-cast Tilt-up, and Factory Built Fireplaces as well as Free Standing & Insert, Gas, and Wood Appliances. We also provide Hearth Fire Loss Investigations, Litigation Support, Consulting Services, Flue Sweeping, Installation and Repair. Additionally, I’ve been a chimney sweep for 23 years, service and install hearth appliances as well as being recognized by the Superior Court of California as an expert witness.

Experience

Brooks Chimney Sweeping Since 1989 Ojai, CA Owner / President www.brooks-hearth.com

Organizations
NCSG, MEMBER,(National Chimney Sweep Guild), Member since 1990, Board of Directors representing Region 6, (CA, NV, AZ, UT, OR, WA, ID, WY, MT, AK and HI,) 2004-2011, ethics committee chair, 2004-2005, executive committee member, Vice President, 2006-2008, President, 2008-2011. CSIA, BOD (Chimney Safety Institute of America,) Board of Directors, ethics committee chair, 2004-2005, executive committee member, Secretary, 2005-2006, Vice President, 2006-2008, President, 2008-2011. HPBA, MEMBER, (Hearth, Patio, & BBQ Association,) since 2002. NFPA Member, (National Fire Protection Association) Since 2009. Technical Committee member for the 211 Standard.

Education/Credentials
California State Licensed Contractor, C61-D34, #750710. http://www2.cslb.ca.gov C.S.I.A., (Chimney Safety Institute of America,) Certified Chimney Sweep, #2580. Held since 1990 re-certified in ‘93, ‘96, ‘99, ‘02, ‘05, '08,'11. http://www.csia.org F.I.R.E. (Fireplace Investigation, Research & Education Service,) Certified Inspector, #FP-006. Held since 2000, re-certified in ’03, ‘06. http://www.f-i-r-e-service.com Fireplace Investigation, Research & Education Service,) Advance Expert Consulting & Witness, certificate, ’05 N.F.I. (National Fireplace Institute,) Certified Gas & Wood-Burning Specialist, #133851. Held since 2002, re-certified in '05,‘08. http://nficertified.org

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