0-clearance fireplace question
i have a FABCO (out of business) 0-clearance unit, it came with the house i bought last year and was a little worse for wear, however talking with my uncle who designs and builds custom firebox’s after he inspected it he said it was a great unit it just needed a re-brick, so i did it and it works great! i have never had any type of fireplace that burned wood so its a learning curve. which leads to my question; if there is a power outage is it ok to keep a fire going with the circulating fans (there are two)turned off? i know i will not get all of the heat into the room but its better than nothing. i also have two toyotomi kerosene heaters, but with the price of oil…the fireplace will keep the whole house warm (2500 sq.ft.) if i keep it going and turn on the cieling fans, and i have two cords of oak so that should get me through winter. also do people let the fire continue to burn when they go to bed? the chimney is clean and the unit seems really stoutly built. any advice for a novice would be much appreciated. thank you in advance.
fm2
“the large print givith, and the small print taketh away” Tom Waits
“those with accurate observation are often called a cynic by those who have not got it” george bernard shaw
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I am not familiar with that brand, At one time there were well over six hundred manufacturers of wood stoves and fireplace units. It has been a competitive industry. Maybe you can find a documentation on the unit online somewhere.
Generally all of these were OK without the fans going. There was one that I was aware of that did have special requirements but when you consider the fact that the primary use intended is heating and possibly when there is no power available, I doubt that this would be improper to use without powered fans. The fans simply make the heat delivery more efficient, in my opinion. Given the numbver of people who endanger themselves with CO gas from those oil burners, the fireplace is probably the safer of the two, carefully used.
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thanx piffin,
i could not find any info. about FABCO online, i did find the parent company name (weitz&co. inc.) but when i called the number, it was a coffee shop. ha, the lady was very nice and said "you must be lookin' fer that stove outfit". i think i will look into battery operated fans at my local boat shop i know they have them, but i want to know the cfm and battery reqiurements. as for the co from oil fired heaters, my toyostoves are quite nice and they seem very safe however they do not work with a generator because it needs a "true sine wave" for the stove's printed circut board to work. i guess i would have to become an electronics expert to bypass or modify it. whatever happenned to a simple transistor and some damn knobs (anyone remember those). hey if all else fails, i just bought a new m-65 tactical field jacket and its quite toasty. caio.
fm2
"the large print givith, and the small print taketh away" Tom Waits
"those with accurate observation are often called a cynic by those who have not got it" george bernard shaw
>> also do people let the fire continue to burn when they go to bed?
Don't close the damper until the coals are out.
Or use a good CO detector.
I would change that to AND ;)
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you can get fans for your fire place that work of the heat from the fire and thus need no electricety . the are about $ 100 can for the larger ones. when you say you have 2 cords of firewood are you talking face cords 4x8x16" or 4x4x8 full cord which makes quite a difference especially if hardwood.
can you tell me where to get more info. on these fans? (e.g. where to buy) sounds plausible to me however, where the fans are located (front left and right) there is no heat! they blow behind the firebox and push out the heat from the back and over the top of the firebox to the room. lastly i have two FULL cords of oak for winter, here in northern california they do not deal in face cords. why? i dunno.
fm2"the large print givith, and the small print taketh away" Tom Waits
"those with accurate observation are often called a cynic by those who have not got it" george bernard shaw
the self- contained ones i saw were in home depot if i recall crrrectly and sit in front of the fireplace on the hearth next time im in there i will check and get some literature to make sure of the mfg.