I have bought an old girl scout lodge 1200 sq feet and it has a grand (huge) fireplace which i would love to use, preferably with the right wood stove!! The FP opening is 60 inches wide, 24 inches deep, and 36 inches high. It has a steel insert that curves from the rear towards the front ending just above 36 inch opening height. It forms a metal shelf there reaching to the back of the brick and full opening of the chimney. From there it tapers up to an opening about 12x 16 inches which extends to the roof. Interestingly it has two dead end about 8 x8 concrete pipes on each side which i assume are to draw air in at bottom and hot air out at the top? I cannot see any penetrations into the chimney flue...
Hope you can help my dilemnas...
1. the FP does not draw well and smoke backs into the room when we tried a small wood fire in it.even if i could use the FP would rather use wood stove but not sure if the draw problem will persist with wood stove?
2. -with this big a fp which stove should i use? the house is basically one big room so not sure if i need
a. a catalytic converter model (not even sure what that is yet despite reading some here on it)
b. a blower
3. Is a tray for ashes worth the $$ (sure seems it would be to me).
4. would like a model i can put a dutch oven on to cook with while im out working on the farm all day...
Sure like the looks of the soapstone stoves but think these are out of my budget. Here in SC it is hard to find people knowledgeable about wood stoves. there are a few for sale locally ...and i see some on ebay also. guess the best one is one that fits my FP and is easy to use...we are out on the farm all day!
Here is a pic of FP-interior shot hard to see anything...let me know if you need more info and appreciate any guidance!!
Hope you can help my dilemnas...
1. the FP does not draw well and smoke backs into the room when we tried a small wood fire in it.even if i could use the FP would rather use wood stove but not sure if the draw problem will persist with wood stove?
2. -with this big a fp which stove should i use? the house is basically one big room so not sure if i need
a. a catalytic converter model (not even sure what that is yet despite reading some here on it)
b. a blower
3. Is a tray for ashes worth the $$ (sure seems it would be to me).
4. would like a model i can put a dutch oven on to cook with while im out working on the farm all day...
Sure like the looks of the soapstone stoves but think these are out of my budget. Here in SC it is hard to find people knowledgeable about wood stoves. there are a few for sale locally ...and i see some on ebay also. guess the best one is one that fits my FP and is easy to use...we are out on the farm all day!
Here is a pic of FP-interior shot hard to see anything...let me know if you need more info and appreciate any guidance!!