New Fireplace One Year Ago: 15 General Thoughts

[samhoff2]

I got my fireplace put in one year ago (an RSF Delta 2). I live in Wyoming, about an hour from the nearest forest. My house is about 2500 square feet, and I burned through about 2 cords of wood this last winter—had the fireplace going whenever I wanted it, but not all the time. Here are a few general thoughts/observations:

1. It is MUCH more efficient than the fireplaces I grew up with (old style ones, sorry I don’t know the names of them).
2. It takes a long time to get heated up and for the (heat-activated) fan to kick on. If it is cold, and I put wood in it, there’s a good 45 minute gap until it kicks out any heat, and the fan usually doesn’t kick on for an hour or so.
3. It does make a difference how seasoned your wood is. I got some from a guy who swore it had been sitting for 3 years, and it burned terribly (I think it was really more like 3 weeks). The stuff that is really dry burns fast, hot, and completely.
4. There is very little ash created when I burn wood.
5. There is very little creosote created (I credit this to the high efficiency).
6. The ability to control airflow to the burn chamber is huge. Cutting it down to almost nothing will make the fire burn a long, long time. Letting the air in really gets it hot. (However my stove has a special heat-activated coil that will cut down the air so it won’t overheat).
7. A stove thermometer is helpful if you don’t know what you’re doing (like most newbies).
8. Splitting wood is actually fun. It relieves stress and isn’t too hard. There is great satisfaction when I hit the end of a log and it explodes into two pieces.
9. It didn’t seem to matter much what kind of wood I put in the stove. I know some will disagree with me, but for me everything I put in it burned. There’s not much oak around here, but there’s lots of pine and cottonwood, so that’s what I burned.
10. A sharp chain on your chainsaw makes a HUGE difference. Sharpen often, even if you just do it yourself and don’t do it perfectly.
11. For me, it was much more cost effective to contact a local logger and have him drop off 7 cords of pine in my backyard, for me to buck and split whenever I get time. For me to drive up to the mountains and then to find a tree that is ok to cut down (you often have to snowmobile or take a 4-wheeler off road to find them) was just going to cost me too much time and money.
12. Stacking wood is apparently an art. I thought I had done it well, and my stacks (portions anyways) have fallen down in the wind twice now. I hope to improve in this area.
13. A complete medium sized tree is not worth it if your friend asks you to “take care of it” for them in return for the firewood. I did this for my neighbor (Russian Olive) and it took me about 2 hours, and all I got was about 3 wheelbarrows full of wood. I was stunned at how little I got—most of those trees are little twigs and sticks that aren’t worth carrying to your fireplace.
14. The amount of gas we used in our home was approximately cut in half. The boiler (for hot water) still was used, and the gas kicked on in the middle of the night etc.
15. Putting in a fireplace was very expensive, so much so that I will never recoup my money (well, not in the next 30 years anyways). However, it was still well worth it. I love the feel of a fire. I love the way it looks. I love knowing that if the power (or gas) go out for a while, I can still keep my house warm.

I welcome any comments, observations, or advice. Thanks everyone on this forum for all the help.

Sam

 

[samhoff2]

Here's the link to the thread with pictures of it/when I built it: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/rsf-delta-2-replacing-gas-stove-finished.71688/

 

[salmonhunter]

how much did it cost you to put in a fireplace? Seems weird that you wont recoup your money until 30 years. Im getting a wood insert and im guessing after the 2nd year the stove will have paid for itself from not having to pay for furnace oil.

 

[samhoff2]

Well…. I didn’t do any of the work myself.

The stove plus pipe installation was around $10,000 (we have a two story house so had to buy a lot of pipe). The framing/rock/hearth was about $4000 total. (These are rough numbers).

I figure my gas bill in the winter is around $200 per month, even if that’s for 6 months, or $1200, and I cut that in half, that’s around $600 per year I’m saving in gas.

$14,000/$600 = 23.3 years, but that’s not counting the extra money I’ve paid for a chainsaw, the pile of wood in my backyard, etc. etc.

 

[Armoured]

how much did it cost you to put in a fireplace? Seems weird that you wont recoup your money until 30 years. Im getting a wood insert and im guessing after the 2nd year the stove will have paid for itself from not having to pay for furnace oil.

Natural gas is cheap where you're hooked up. Fuel oil's much more expensive. With current prices for gas - not saying they'll stay there - a lot of people wouldn't save much at all.

 

[btuser]

14k for an install? There are some pros on this board frothing at the mouth.

It's awesome that you're enjoying the stove. I'm in the same "never gonna be worth it" loop but when we're all huddled up and watching the fire it's a very comforting feeling. Playing boggle in the glow of your own fire is something I'll be proud of long after the embers die out and I'm too old to lift an splitting maul.

If the wind is blowing over your stacks, that's a good thing. Only 2 cords in Wyoming? You must be a polar bear!

 

[fossil]

14k for an install? There are some pros on this board frothing at the mouth...

Did you bother to look at the photos and consider that it was all done from start to finish by contracting out? I'm not at all surprised at what it cost. Rick

ETA: I also think it turned out beautifully.

 

[btuser]

Did you bother to look at the photos and consider that it was all done from start to finish by contracting out? I'm not at all surprised at what it cost. Rick

ETA: I also think it turned out beautifully.

I'm not surprised either. How often do people say "its gonna cost THAT MUCH TO INSTALL IT?" I figure my own plain-Jane install was close to 3k, definitely a deal killer if I'm factoring the per-dollar return. People who pay for craftsmanship are coveted in my line of work. I'm guessing it's the same other places.

 

[fossil]

...People who pay for craftsmanship are coveted in my line of work...

If nobody recognized or appreciated or was willing to pay for craftsmanship, there wouldn't be any craftsmanship. If everyone was adept at doing everything for themselves...hmm, I can't even imagine that world.

 

[btuser]

If nobody recognized or appreciated or was willing to pay for craftsmanship, there wouldn't be any craftsmanship.

There's less and less of it. I get haggled over the gas it takes to get to the site, let alone the cost to train a competent installer.

 

[samhoff2]

Well, it might have been 3 cords I went through. Or even 4. Not sure really; still trying to figure out how to measure all of that stuff. (I kept moving/splitting/using in the middle of winter so it's just a rough estimate).

And as for cost of install... I did think about doing a lot of it myself, but ultimately I just didn't have the time (or the expertise). Money, I do have (er, I DID have I should say). I didn't haggle with anybody. I understand that people are professionals and charge a fair rate, so I pay what they ask. In turn, they do the same for me.

(Ok, the true long story is that I had bought 5 gold coins a while ago as an investment, and I got to thinking how little they were going to help me in the middle of a cold Wyoming winter if I needed heat. When gold hit $1800 I sold them and turned them into the greater part of a fireplace. I can't say I miss the gold, and I really enjoy the fire!)

Sam

 

[begreen]

Sounds like a wise investment and a good turnaround. That fireplace will give you pleasure every day of winter for many years.

 

[Armoured]

People spend crazy amounts of money on kitchens, bathrooms, decks in cold weather, whatever. If you like it and it makes your home comfortable and nice to spend time in, you don't have to have a payback period. Not everything has to pay for itself.

Or another angle I like to take sometimes: if it helps you stay at home and keep from spending money out at restaurants or bars, it (whatever it is, fireplace or nice kitchen table, etc) can pay for itself very quickly indeed.

Or even more so: if it keeps the family happy, almost always cheaper than a divorce.

 

[samhoff2]

Another thought I recall having is, "I have friends who drop $30,000 for a new car every 3-4 years. I am still driving the '97 Camry with 180,000 miles on it that I bought 11 years ago. And I really don't want a new car. I don't care about cars... but I REALLY want a fireplace."

Justification is a dangerous thing. But that's how my thought process went.

 

[btuser]

Another thought I recall having is, "I have friends who drop $30,000 for a new car every 3-4 years. I am still driving the '97 Camry with 180,000 miles on it that I bought 11 years ago. And I really don't want a new car. I don't care about cars... but I REALLY want a fireplace."

Justification is a dangerous thing. But that's how my thought process went.

I should have chosen my words more carefully. I meant to say how great it is when a tradesman and a customer are both happy with the end result. You're happy with the fireplace and that's the best kind of advertisement going. Personally that's the kind of work I like, but all too often we're pressured to go absolutely as cheaply as possible and in the end neither side is truly happy.

As far as justifying the cost of it, I'm sure that fireplace will be around longer than the loan most people have for their car. Not really a depreciating asset. My own quest to save money on heat is somewhere in the neighborhood of not quite ever going to break even. But compared to other hobbies its definitely cost neutral. So far my quest to brew my own beer has cost me over $800 worth of tubes, gizmos, and empty beer bottles. I know all about the slippery slope of justification.

 

[firebroad]

samhoff2, you hit the nail right on the head. Same story here. Mine was an insert. I never could figure out how that old stone fireplace could suck so much heat up out of the chimney, while filling my house with stinky, acrid smoke. Now I get warmth inside, and if I want to smell smoke I have to go outside, and even that is being burned before it exits.
Don't forget all the other gizmos we buy, like rakes and firestarters moisture meters. In my case, a leg powered wood splitter,
You are right, there is nothing so comforting than knowing no matter what Mother Nature sends, we will be WARM.