All the woodstove talk around here made me start looking at my fireplace for improvements. Here’s the situation: masonry fireplace with glass doors in New England. The damper is closed via a worm gear. We don’t have the cash for a full on wood or pellet stove insert.
What are the opinions on those grate blower contraptions that sit under the glass doors and blow the hot air into the room. Will this at least get the fireplace to a break even point in terms of heating?
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I would have to consider how much electricity the blower would use. My first thought is that it would overide the savings of using the fireplace for heat.
My dad put one in once. I'd say you want to hear the one you're looking at running in the store before buying. It was really loud. Maybe they've gotten better but that was our experience.
there is no way you can make a traditional fireplace anything but a heat loss if it uses room air for combustion .. you need outside air ... just before ripping out mine I toyed with the idea of converting the ash dump to draw outside air by drilling through the foundation into it and then sealing it off below that ...