Heat going up or not?

[mogasse]

A cord is 128 cu ft. or three 4ft high x 8ft wide stacks of 16" wood. A face cord is one third that amount. Or a 16" wide stack 4'x8'.

Okay, thank you begreen. What we consider a cord over here is a 4X8 cord.

 

[begreen]

Both can be measured 4x8. Are your stacks one log width wide or 3 logs wide x 4x8?

 

[mogasse]

Both can be measured 4x8. Are your stacks one log width wide or 3 logs wide x 4x8?

One log wide.

 

[begreen]

OK, that makes more sense. 15 face cords = 5 full cords of wood. With a modern woodstove that consumption should come down notably. Insulating the basement will also help reduce consumption. By doing both it could be possible to get the consumption down a third or more.

 

[mogasse]

We've had the installation inspected today, but unfortunately, i couldn't be there, leaving my girl alone with the inspector and not understanding an damn word. What came out is that the chimney only has a 1 inch isolation and, for what I understood, I have to otherwise keep the stove and change the chimney (and move the stove 36'' from the back wall, which would put it kind of in the middle of the place), or have a ZC installed in the brickwall that would fit with the chimney.

So now the ZC fireplace... What about that? What is it in the first place? Just beginning to get info on that.
And feeling more confused than ever.

 

[begreen]

Who did the inspection, a ZC fireplace dealer? Though it's hard to see the whole situation from just one picture it looks like a low clearance thimble by Saf-T-Thimble (Heat Fab) or Insul Flue (Dalsin Mfg) could be installed to pass through the wall. And you certainly have additional options besides putting in an expensive ZC fireplace. I would not keep the current stove, but instead would replace it with a modern, close-clearance, convective stove as mentioned earlier. Instead of 36" (which could be reduced) a new stove could only need 12" or less. Connect the stove with double wall pipe to maintain safe clearances.

PS: I wouldn't keep the old stove. It has been overfired, has no shielding, high clearances, eats wood like candy, pollutes and has no fire view.

 

[mogasse]

Who did the inspection, a ZC fireplace dealer? Though it's hard to see the whole situation from just one picture it looks like a low clearance thimble by Saf-T-Thimble (Heat Fab) or Insul Flue (Dalsin Mfg) could be installed to pass through the wall. And you certainly have additional options besides putting in an expensive ZC fireplace. I would not keep the current stove, but instead would replace it with a modern, close-clearance, convective stove as mentioned earlier. Instead of 36" (which could be reduced) a new stove could only need 12" or less. Connect the stove with double wall pipe to maintain safe clearances.

PS: I wouldn't keep the old stove. It has been overfired, has no shielding, high clearances, eats wood like candy, pollutes and has no fire view.

The idea of the ZC is due to the 1'' isolation. I sure would love to get a Stove instead and be sure, i won't keep that old stove. I'll make calls tomorrow for estimates and trying to understand a bit more the situation.

 

[begreen]

Good plan. Get multiple quotes for a better perspective. So far I have not spotted a reason why you can't put in a modern stove there, but eyes on site may pick up on issues that don't come through in a single picture.