Gas fireplace conversion to wood burning info

[nogaroheli]

We just bought a 70s house that originally had a wood fireplace it it, at some point the previous owners converted it to a really hideous gas fireplace. I'd like to have that old school gas insert removed and convert the fireplace to wood burning again. I've read that wood fireplace inserts are the cats pajamas, does anyone have experience with them? Has anyone ever made the conversion? If so, who did you use? Does anyone here do this type of thing? Thanks!

[Irving]

Our real fireplace was also converted into an electric, so the original chimney space is still there. I'd think it'd be just as simple as getting the insert, and the correct flue components to go back. However, if I were you, I'd look into a stove insert instead of a fireplace. Stoves are way more efficient and better at heating than a fireplace. If you want the ambiance (and you do) then get a model with a glass door so you can see the fire.

[nogaroheli]

I hadn't even thought of a stove there, I'll have to look those up.

I bet the people who converted your to electric removed as little as possible of the flue and chimney pieces.

[Irving]

Well, the brick cavity is still there, and there was never a brick chimney, just a large (12") flue pipe. I bet it'd be very simple to convert back. The problem in my case is that they built it in a room that was added on to the very back of the home. The back room doesn't flow well with the rest of the house, so getting a nice stove would really only serve to heat that back room. If it were more centrally located, I probably would have already converted back, as our house is rather small and could easily be heated by wood heat alone. Now you have me thinking about adding a stand alone stove in the living room though...


This is one of the top stove brands that people seem to like: http://jotul.com/us/home

[USMC88-93]

How hard is permitting for wood fireplaces these days. Will front range cities even allow their installation anymore?

[Irving]

How hard is permitting for wood fireplaces these days. Will front range cities even allow their installation anymore?

I think so. I also believe you have to have a stove of a certain efficiency rating though, so that wood stove you inherit from grandpa may not pass inspection.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

Have you considered a pellet stove? Sometimes a gas line is quite challenging to get to where you want it. Just an idea.

[DFBrews]

If you want to get fancy you can run copper tubing on the stove and pump water through it into a small storage tank and then into an adjacent room with a radiator and use even more of the heat produced.

[MED]

I've installed some stoves myself and had others installed for me. Fireplace inserts are awesome if you get the right one, and you can get them EPA rated for 365 days burning (at least in the past; I haven't kept track of this because I am exempt where I live). However, the new regs probably added some cost to them and don't know what is being made that is compliant. Your fireplace should be grandfathered unless the county records were changed, which I doubt. As far as your chimney, depends on the install. The gas stove installers may have run pipe, which would need to be removed, and you would need to get the chimney inspected for damage. I would definitely do an insert if I had a fireplace. You can get them with pretty large glass too. I've used Goodrich Chimney Services, and I was completely satisfied with the work they did for me.

[Grant H.]

If I were staying in our house, I would get an insert replacement wood stove.

Something like these:
http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/store/wood-products/wood-inserts
http://jotul.com/us/products/fireplace-inserts

They are noticeably more efficient than normal inserts.

[gnihcraes]

Pellet stove. Love mine. Quadrafire. http://www.quadrafire.com/Browse/Inserts.aspx

Watching my neighbors beat themselves up all summer working on firewood. Easier to pick up a pallet of pellets and be done with it.

[lllRorlll]

Just bought a house with a nice fireplace... My pops keeps saying... Get an insert!
so gonna budget for one for next year.
interested in this thread, and if anyone has any recommendations on brands or brands to avoid..
interested in plain ol wood, pellet sounds cool.. But no shave november has pretty much qualified me as a lumber sexual.. Soooo

[th3w01f]

Just had a guy out a few weeks ago and we were asking similar questions. He said getting a fireplace permitted is pretty much impossible and our only options were pellet or high efficiency wood burning stove.

No idea if he was correct but it wouldn't surprise me.

[fitz19d]

I would love wood. But our "modern" house only has the stupid narrow fake fireplace that runs on gas with a giant empty space for a old giant tube tv.

Can't imagine I have any good options that arn't many thousands?

[nogaroheli]

I've talked with a bunch of fireplace places here in town and to get rid of the gas fireplace and swap in a wood burning insert it'll apart at $4700. Not awful but I'll probably kick it down the road and do other stuff first.