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optimistic
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 06:19pm
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Is it possible to build your own fireplace?
I am planning my 12'x12' build and I would love to have those brick fireplaces. I read they are silly expensive. Is it even plausible to diy or should I just forger about it?
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Borrego
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 06:25pm
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Do you have any masonry experience?
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 06:35pm - Edited by: MtnDon
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It is possible to build your own. A friend of mine had a mason build one, the core is concrete block. The fireplace firebox is lined with firebrick. The exterior is covered with stone. There is a science or maybe an art to building the firebox with the proper slopes, smoke shelf configuration, etc. A bad design will stand a good chance of allowing smoke into the room even with the damper fully open. I think I would want to enlist the help of an experienced fireplace builder or find some very good proven plans.
They look nice but are terribly inefficient for heating. I've never used so much wood trying to keep warm as with a fireplace. On the bright side that makes it more difficult to get the interior too warm, which is all too easy with a wood stove. 
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 06:46pm
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Look at dfossons build...he has a traditional looking fireplace.
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optimistic
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 08:00pm
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Great posts... thanks ppl
I do agree on the heat issue. I am also looking into maybe investing in a high end stove that will look nice. I love the Jotul F 370 but... I need to shed some acres for it though.
Any suggestion on an affordable wood stove that will have a large glass for viewing those attractive flames?
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EvoQ
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# Posted: 10 Dec 2012 05:03am
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There are Inserts that fit into a Conventional wood burning fireplace. So if you wanted to have a fireplace for looks and then have the insert for high inefficiency that would work for you. But as has been stated a traditional wood fireplace is a huge waster of energy.
Just think about a Wood burning stove or heater made from steel. The burning wood heats up all that steel which gives out a radiating effect. I have always heard that Radiant heat is the most efficient design for wood burning heat sources.
Go check into those fireplace inserts if you want to go that route, it is basically a steel stove/heater slipped into the fireplace. I would think for aesthetics that you could make the surround out of stone and then have a insert which would look very traditional in the sense.
I have seen these in homes before, they look great if you want that traditional fireplace look but also demand high efficiency too.
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2012 08:51pm
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I'm reminded of the "Alone in the Wilderness" small Alaskan cabin which kept Dick Proenneke at a frost 40 degrees F in the winter. I saw in a later video that he acquired a barrel stove!
For a combination of heat and "ambiance", look at the wood burning stoves with the glass window. One can see the fire and feel the warmth. My only complaint is that it would produce too much light in my one-room cabin when I'm trying to sleep.
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optimistic
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2012 09:43pm
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Yeah I will go the wood stove with glass route. Cheaper and more efficient heating.
I like the clean lines of those more modern ones. Like this one: http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=375228-76845-50-SVL17LC&catalogId=1005 1&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=3664808
Maybe I will be lucky and someone will sell a used on. If not, I will get this one.
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Dillio187
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2012 10:54pm
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crazy URL, that's the same stove as the Englander 17-VL, they must rebadge it?
http://www.homedepot.com/buy/englander-1-200-sq-ft-wood-stove-17-vl.html#.UMf_wXevw5w
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exsailor
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# Posted: 12 Dec 2012 10:11am
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I don't know if it is a product on the market, but here is an idea I like. A fireplace insert with a transparent door pane like many of the wood stoves I see. If it is not a market item handy person with some metal skills, and a welder could put one together. You could open the door for the full fireplace experience and loose some heat, just as you would with a fireplace. The most appealing feature to me is leave the door closed for insert efficiency. The transparent window pane would allow you to see the dancing of the flame, which is one of the reasons for a fireplace or campfire. Okay there is watching the patterns in the coals.
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