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double sided fireplaces

Andreas | Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on November 25, 2003 09:30am

Double sided fireplace question:

I am rebuilding a house on piers. The architect designed a divider between the kitchen/dining area and the living room to consist of a two-sided fireplace and an entertainment center. Ceilings in all rooms are of the same height. The fireplace installer tells me that 90% of all two-sided wood burning fireplaces blow smoke into the house. I am planning to have a 4″ fresh air supply pipe feeding the fireplace. Any other suggestions on how to avoid smoke coming into the living area when for example the central heat system comes on or when exterior doors are opened/closed?

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  1. User avater
    Sphere | Nov 25, 2003 09:58pm | #1

    Odd..I was just getting ready to post on the same subject..here we go with the premonitions again. 

    JUCA fireplaces...www.mb-soft.com/juca/index.html  has a thousand pages on fireplaces fireplace furnaces.  I need to create one for my restoration as well..found this site yesterday. The problem is that they are no longer taking any orders..

    I suggest that you check there for ALL info about draft, flue sizes, make up air and such..It may help..

    Now , my question I was going to post,,, Does any one have direct experiance with a JUCA or a competiter that makes a similar see-through fireplace/furnace? 

    Thanx Duane

  2. csnow | Nov 26, 2003 12:00am | #2

    The problem with 2-sided is the cross-breeze and the low velocity of the draw with so much supply area to draw from.

    It would help if you could close glass doors on the side you are not using.

    Smoke shelf and throat design must be tricky as well.   Also no radiant 'bounce' off the fireback.  Anything borrowed from Rumford is probably not applicable.

    It would help to use a low-mass multi-wall SS flue instead of a masonry one. These heat up much faster and encourage combustion gases to go up the flue, instead of some other path.

    Frankly, these are cute, but have all of the disadvantages of any open fireplace, plus a handicap...

    I wonder if it would it be possible to design it with glass doors that seal airtight on both sides.  Then it would start to lean towards the practical...

    1. User avater
      Sphere | Nov 26, 2003 01:29am | #3

      " wonder if it would it be possible to design it with glass doors that seal airtight on both sides.  Then it would start to lean towards the practical"

      This is what the Juca design has..A steel firebox with a "snout" on both faces to allow a face material (brick etc.) to be applied to look like a true fireplace..the glass doors seal up to the snout like an airtite stove.  Internal heat exchanger tubes and an external blower..sounds like the best of both worlds...now if some one could find a clone.           Duane

  3. timeska | Nov 29, 2003 02:53am | #4

    I agree with your chimney guy, 2 sided fireplaces spill often.Nothing worse than a smokey fp. An Exhausto fan on the chimney will solve smoke spillage, but it can create other negative pressure problems. glass doors can help a lot but its just not the same looking at a fire thru doors. Tim (chimney sweep)

  4. lostarrow | Nov 29, 2003 03:43am | #5

    I built lots of two sided and three sided FP back in the 50's and 60's. I always used a hood type damper and never had any negative feedback on their workability. Well, almost never. I did have one disgruntled homeowner,but it wasn't my doing. This was back in the days before AC was the norm. These people decided that they wanted a ceiling exaust fan installed to help cool the house. When the house was finished they held a house warming party with a nice fire going in the FP. After awhile it was getting a little too warm , what with all the people and the fire going. So the HO flipped the switch to turn on the ceilng fan  to cool things down and "WOOSH" all the smoke and ashes started pouring into the room. The guests were stomping out the hot ashes on the new carpets while the house filled with smoke. I guess that it wasn't a pretty sight and the party broke up a little early.

    Be not afraid of going slowly.  Be afraid only of standing still.   chinese proverb

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