The fireplace frame I installed has two magnetic mesh doors and two bi-fold smoked glass doors....so while it is not 100% sealed, it's a lot better than just an open firebox. Here's a picture of it closed.
I wish I had the room and the funds to make a huge wood shed but I don't........so I cover them with tarps on the top and keep them off the ground with the aforementioned pallets. Thanks for the link. I read that when I first joined the forum.
Sounds perfect. Fire burning. Sleep. Hmmmmmm? Sounds really familiar! No TV. Love it. Huddled around the fire tuned into a radio might be a good throwback to a much better time. A thought. Or just enjoy the quiet family time. I can understand that.
I wish........the kids are glued to their phones and tablets and chromebooks, etc. That said they are supposed to practice piano and only watch for an hour a day......but I've been giving them a little slack because of being stuck in the house all day long...... Try to get them out on the weekends. They take horseback riding lessons on Saturdays with their mom so that's good for them. At the end of the night I let the fire die down to embers and them shut the glass doors almost all the way. If it has died down significantly I will shut them all the way. This morning I woke up to a nice bed of embers comfortably sleeping under a blanket of ash. Made for easy starting.
I try to be prepared. I think they were $9.99 at HarborFreight and while they won't last a super long time I think I'll get 2 years out of each one at least, maybe more. If you would like to contribute to the LOTF Insert Fund please, by all means, start it up.
Road trip!! 2007 Wood Stove Insert 2007 Wood Stove Insert - household items - by owner - housewares sale Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Your setup looks great! It brings back fond memories. I rented an old, poorly insulated house in Denver when I was in my late teens/early 20’s. It had a fireplace very similar to that. I insulated the inside of it with extra fire brick. I’m telling you - that thing saved me tons of money on heating. I literally could not afford the heating bills and beer (beer was the obvious priority) until I started using the fireplace seriously. I was broke, but I had access to lots of firewood. That fireplace may not have been the most efficient option, but it would heat that entire house comfortably. Even though I was broke, those were some of the best times of my life
While I have a long wishlist of things I want to do/get (Makita 2012NB planer, American Racing AR62 17" rims for my Tacoma, a Basque splitting axe, and plenty more) it is nice to pause and be grateful for that which you already have and already have done. When I was in excruciating pain laid up in bed for 5 days straight after over doing it with the splitting.....all I wanted to do was walk without pain.
"I don't think so Tim". That's been done on this site already!! My first two houses had fireplaces in them. Never lit a fire in the first one, the second house, well, once or twice in the fall of the year and that was it. The newer fireplaces have come a long way though.
Don't take any offense. We just enjoy spending other peoples money for them You're a wise man, appreciate the little things in life. You never know when they wont be there.