How much wood is appropriate in huge masonry fireplace?

[walton80]

We recently purchased a colonial home in New Jersey that was built in 1978. One of the chimneys has a large fireplace that measures 60" wide by 38" high and sits atop a 12 foot wide brick hearth that protrudes about 2 feet deep into the great room. There are 2 large rectangular clay flues side by side and the chimney seems to draft very nicely. This is our first house and our family has been enjoying sitting by the fireplace while burning locally sourced and seasoned red oak.

I had a chimney sweep service inspect the chimney and they said there were some small cracks in the throat/smoke chamber above the fireplace. They said if we want to be proactive, they can spray the smoke chamber with a ceramic coating called Smoktite which was supposed to last for 10 years, which we agreed to do. Unfortunately I just noticed that the Smoktite product has already started to crack and is peeling off in large pieces after about 1 season of use.

The included picture shows how I have stacked wood in the firebox. This represents the maximum amount of wood I use in the fireplace at any given time. I am wondering if this is too much wood for a masonry fireplace and possibly the reason for the Smoktite failing? Also, is there a better way of dealing with the masonry cracks than a spray-on composite product? What would be best practice for a homeowner that wants to ensure the longevity of the chimney?

 

[bigealta]

Hmm not sure about that coating?
If it was my house i'd put a woodstove in that fireplace.
Solves many problems and will kick out much much more heat. Safer as well since you have cracks in existing firebox and possibly flue?
Also you can walk away from a woodstove but for me you really can't walk away from an open fire even with a screen.

 

[stoveliker]

I would ask the company that put the smoktite in to honor their prediction that it'll last for 10 years. The coating may be good, but maybe they did not prepare the surface well so it didn't adhere well?

(Also, holy moly, that amount of wood heats my hole house for at least 24 hrs.)

 

[bigealta]

This heats my house all winter in NJ.

 

[stoveliker]

Also, the big size of the fireplace (and flues) also a results in a lot of air flow that will help cool down the surfaces. So I don't think that a big fireplace is necessarily producing hotter surfaces up there.

 

[bigealta]

Got to throw some 3-4 Ft logs in there just for fun.