Wood Burning Fireplace

[darklord700]

Tonight might be a good night to light a fire with the -30C temperature.

My house comes with a wood buring fireplace with natural gas line. I wanted to try the synthetic firelog. Have you guys tried it, does it burn hotter and cleaner than wood?

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/nort...firelog/850722

Someone told me I should leave the flue open until the morning even without the wood burning, wouldn't furnace heat escape to outside throughout the night if I do so?

[surferguy]

Take a pass on the fire log and get a bundle of birch from a gas station for 11 bucks. Leave the flue open after burning. Yes you will lose heat through it unfortunately. .

[GoinAllTheWay]

Must be nice to have a real wood burning fireplace. Escpecially with a NG line.

Ya, those logs aren't bad. They certainly burn longer but never noticed them burning hotter. I prefer the charm of real wood.

How is it you have a wood burning fireplace but no stock of wood for it?

[darklord700]

This is only the 2nd winter I'm in this house. Got some wood from the neighbour last year to try it out. It was more for the fun of a cold night by the fire than neccessity to me as I don't like the clean up afterwards.

[Redliner]

A wood burning fireplace was one of the "must have" criteria when my wife and I were shopping for our house. If the power goes out you can still cook food (although I suppose the BBQ works for that as well) and keep your house from freezing.

The firelogs are OK but I prefer real wood by far. Every fall I just get a forestry permit for $5, grab a chainsaw, go out by Bragg Creek, and fill my truck. We harvest the deadfall and there is tons of nice birch. Yeah, it's a lot of work bucking up the logs and splitting it into pieces that will fit in your fireplace, but we just make a day of it and it's a great excuse to spend time in the mountains. I guess it's probably a little late for you to do that now, but definitely something to think about for next year if you want to use your fireplace a lot.

[Canada 02]

gas station firewood is often too green and wet to burn well. Buy a cord of some hardwood (apple, oak etc) and store it in a dry place for a season, then you will have great wood that burns hot and clean

http://www.thefireplacechannel.com/burningwood.html

[Nufy]

Burnco sells wood by weight.

I usually get a truckload or two during the winter for my fireplace.

[Jimmy Stang]

My parents have a wood burning fireplace, and those fire logs aren't as hot as real wood. Plus, you don't get the crackle and popping of the wood burning, which is part of the whole experience.

They have threatened for years to convert theirs to a gas insert (they have natural gas leading to it as well for easy starting), but I hope that they never do. Sure, it is more efficient, clean, convenient, etc. but there is something special about a wood burning fireplace.

I even love the smell of the winter air in older neighbourhoods, infused with other people's fireplace smoke.

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by Redliner

The firelogs are OK but I prefer real wood by far. Every fall I just get a forestry permit for $5, grab a chainsaw, go out by Bragg Creek, and fill my truck. We harvest the deadfall and there is tons of nice birch. Yeah, it's a lot of work bucking up the logs and splitting it into pieces that will fit in your fireplace, but we just make a day of it and it's a great excuse to spend time in the mountains. I guess it's probably a little late for you to do that now, but definitely something to think about for next year if you want to use your fireplace a lot.

I never knew you could do this. Awesome. I guess I will have to plan this next year.

[Ironhorse]

Those firelogs do nasty things to your chimney as far as deposits are concerned. Stop by HD or Rona, they will have firewood that is in better shape than gas station wood (and cheaper also, about $7/bundle).

Once the embers have gone out, I will close the flue before going to bed. A bit of water spray bottle helps.

[Redliner]

Originally Posted by bossy22

I never knew you could do this. Awesome. I guess I will have to plan this next year.

It's definitely the most economical way to get wood if you don't mind doing the work yourself. Here's the info - the one you want is the TM66 forest product tag. Be sure to check the maps too, as there are certain areas that are off-limits for cutting/harvesting wood.

http://esrd.alberta.ca/forms-maps-se...s/default.aspx

[calgarywinning]

The world is amazing that this can still happen. This is the design of the hunter part of our DNA.

[Clarkey]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

gas station firewood is often too green and wet to burn well. Buy a cord of some hardwood (apple, oak etc) and store it in a dry place for a season, then you will have great wood that burns hot and clean

http://www.thefireplacechannel.com/burningwood.html

Looks like you will have to wait a year.

[Engine09]

Didn't want to make a new thread, quick question.


What is the best place in the city to buy fireplace parts?

I need a seal/gasket and mounting brackets for a metal/glass wood burning fireplace door.

[Simon96Taco]

Also don't want to make a new thread, so here's a semi-related question:

Has anyone (or does anyone know if I can) installed a wood burning stove into their house and used the existing chimney to run the steel flue?

Here's some background:

The house, like a typical 60's house, has a cinderblock chimney in the utility room, right next to the furnace. This chimney is/was used to vent combustion gases from the furnace and the water heater. The old furnace was replaced with high efficiency furnace which no longer vents through the chimney, rather through direct venting (ABS plastic piping) through the side foundation of the home. At some point I will need to replace the water heater, which I will probably also replace with something high efficiency that I presume will also vent through the side of the home. At this point, the chimney would be basically useless.

I have considered the possibility of removing the chimney altogether to make room for a bigger pantry in the kitchen above it, but that would be a lot of labour. Also considered reusing it as a conduit for a wood burning stove flue, hence my question here.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Kind of panic inducing when reading a thread you assume is new, mentions it getting to -30 later that night......

[CroFlames]

https://twitter.com/shawfirelog

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Simon96Taco

Has anyone (or does anyone know if I can) installed a wood burning stove into their house and used the existing chimney to run the steel flue?

I'll start off saying that I have never done this but if you can get a wood stove in there try to get one that you can cook on/in. My parents had one in one of their homes on Vancouver Island and it was pretty awesome. It was in the same room as the television so you could bake on top of the stove using a dutch oven (teehee) while watching Hockey Night In Canada.

First game of the night my dad would pop some homemade cheese bread pull-apart dough in the dutch oven and put some soup or chili in a cast iron pot beside it. If the first period started to go long we'd all end up trying to get my dad to pause the game because we'd all smelled the bread baking and the soup cooking. During the second game we'd decide if it was snack or dessert time. Snack time meant nachos and dessert time meant cake ramekins with ice cream to cool it so it was still warm but not face melting. We ate them while holding the ramekin with an oven mitt!

The heat from the stove plus the smells of our food cooking/baking while bonding over hockey made for some really fond memories.

[indes]

As someone who runs wood heat, I wouldn't recommend it if you have natural gas. It may turn out to be a bit cheaper but it's a real pain in the ass as your primary heat source. Have you considered a pellet stove if you don't have gas?

[Simon96Taco]

Originally Posted by indes

As someone who runs wood heat, I wouldn't recommend it if you have natural gas. It may turn out to be a bit cheaper but it's a real pain in the ass as your primary heat source. Have you considered a pellet stove if you don't have gas?

Not sure if this post was in regards to mine, but in case it was I'll clarify that I don't intend to use it as my sole source of heat. I just love wood burning stoves and would love to add one to my basement if I could. Having it upstairs might mean it would get used more, but I like the idea of the warmth spreading up through the house if I had it in the center of the house in the basement.