Removing bricks from fire place to get more heat

[kestrel]

The problem:
The fire place/surround in my place has this 'hood' type feature built into the brick work.
I think the previous owners may have had an open fire and got the burner fitted at some point.

 
Anyway, whenever i use the wood burner the hood seems to act like a huge heat sink resulting in all
of the heat produced from the burner going into warming up the bricks and not the room

In addition, the wood burner itself has been shoehorned into the smallest opening possible. This prevents me from 
being able to at least try to fit a stove fan on the top to see if i can get any heat into the room. 

So ive got a nice little wood burner that is little more than a display object at the moment.

 

in the hope that i can get more heat into the room im thinking of trying to dismantle all the bricks that from the 
hood so that im left with a flat faced fire place. 
If possible ill also remove a few courses of brick so that the height of the opening is tall enough to fit a stove fan.

on inspection, the arch has a steel support lintel in place.

looking further inside, the brick face behind the hood appears to have had a steel support at some point, possibly to fit the burner in.

 

Im after some advice on how best to dismantle the brick hood, raise the height of the opening so i can fit a stove fan and make good the remaining brick work, plus the support that looks to have been cut.

Ive got a sds drill breaker, and all the tools needed. The plan was to remove the bricks working from the top down, removing the arch and its support lintel last and finally the bricks that stick out as supports.

(i did think about trying to remove the base and drop the level of the burner but this wont give be the additional head room to fit a stove fan ant ill sill have the problem of the hood acting like a heat sink. Would also have to remove the burner for access)

has anyone ever done something remotely similar to this and have any tips to offer?

 

 

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by kestrel

[Crofter]

I'm not sure about the structure of that brick work so won't comment on how to safely remove it.

But I will say, getting the stove out on to the open will make a huge difference.

 

We fl initially fitted our stove in to the recess created by removing the fire bricks in the fireplace. Used a clay adapter to connect to the chimney. Ran out like that for many years.

When we renovated, I pulled the stove out, fitted a proper stainless liner, and boarded over the opening to leave a totally flat wall. Extended the hearth out in to the room and the stove is now free standing.

 

It made a huge difference. The room heats up much quicker.

[saveasteading]

These stove fans are fun but don't do a lot. Once the brick is hot, it will start to heat the room. 

Where do you think the heat is being lost at present?

 

What happens to the smoke? Is there a flue, and is the old chimney closed off above the stove.

[Marvin]

Hi @kestrel

 

Couple of other options:

 

Blow a fan towards and at the bottom of the wood burner.

 

Pull the fire out more altering the flue.

 

If all the heat is heating the bricks you have a heat sump. Is the fire on an external wall?

 

M

[kestrel]

7 hours ago, Marvin said:

Hi @kestrel

 

Couple of other options:

 

Blow a fan towards and at the bottom of the wood burner.

 

Pull the fire out more altering the flue.

 

If all the heat is heating the bricks you have a heat sump. Is the fire on an external wall?

Yes  it's on an external wall and yes it's heating the bricks in the hood

M

 

[kestrel]

8 hours ago, saveasteading said:

 

Where do you think the heat is being lost at present?

It feels like it's all going into the brick hood

8 hours ago, saveasteading said:

 

What happens to the smoke? Is there a flue, and is the old chimney closed off above the stove.

Smoke goes straight up the chimney and out

There's a metal flue and liner in the chimney. 

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, kestrel said:

There's a metal flue and liner in the chimney

If you look up past the stove, is the chimney open to the room or is there a closure?

[joe90]

10 hours ago, saveasteading said:

These stove fans are fun but don't do a lot.

Well I have one and it works well at pushing the heat into the room, yes the bricks will heat up but that turns it into a storage heater so you benefit longer after the fire goes out. Yes I agree it’s tight and I would not like it and opening it can be done with care.

[kestrel]

3 hours ago, saveasteading said:

If you look up past the stove, is the chimney open to the room or is there a closure?

It's closed off with a metal plate although there is a slight gap (less than 10mm) along one of the edges 

Edited October 16, 2023 by kestrel

[saveasteading]

15 minutes ago, kestrel said:

closed off

In that case , your very hot metal box is all in the room. The bricks getting hot is secondary and better than the waste heat going straight up the flue.

 

As above, maybe you can pull thd stove forward.  As an experiment try a fan, without heater, to draw air out of the fireplace....but not right in front or it will melt... so blow from an angle?

[kestrel]

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

As above, maybe you can pull the stove forward.  As an experiment try a fan, without heater, to draw air out of the fireplace....but not right in front or it will melt... so blow from an angle?

 

Not able to pull the stove forward due to the lack of space into which it's been fitted...would need at least to remove the brick arch in order to pull it forward.

 

I will give the fan idea it a go before I resort to pulling bricks out

Edited October 16, 2023 by kestrel

[saveasteading]

3 minutes ago, kestrel said:

before I resort to pulling bricks out

Yes, you could do all that to little benefit. Assuming your fire gets really hot, then lots of heat goes up the flue, but the box itself is in the room.

Is it uncomfortably hot to get close to it?.

[kestrel]

5 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Yes, you could do all that to little benefit. Assuming your fire gets really hot, then lots of heat goes up the flue, but the box itself is in the room.

Is it uncomfortably hot to get close to it?.

Yes you can't sit too close to it for very long. You can feel a lot of heat coming off the box. The bricks get very warm to the touch. Just don't get much of that to the room unfortunately 

[Crofter]

I found that when my stove was pushed back in to the alcove, the chimney breast itself would get very hot... and leach most of that heat out in to the loft. A lot probably went down in to the foundations too. The chimney breast itself was boarded out with battens and plasterboard- except for under the floor and in the loft of course.

It was far more efficient once we pulled the stove out in to the room.

[SteamyTea]

I seem to remember all you wood burner people claiming it is the warm glow from the fire that keeps you warm.

 

[kestrel]

5 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

I seem to remember all you wood burner people claiming it is the warm glow from the fire that keeps you warm.

 

Ha! Loads of people I talk to rave about how their wood burners heat the whole house....when I moved in I was all keen to see what all the fuss was about.... Not much it seems😂

maybe it's just a sub optimal install

[TonyT]

My woodburner in my lounge does a good job of heating the room, and the hallway/rooms off it 

 

temp sensors in this location prove this to be true in my case

[joe90]

1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

I seem to remember all you wood burner people claiming it is the warm glow from the fire that keeps you warm.

 

My wood stove in my little cottage is great, heat’s more than just the room it’s in after just a few hours. 👍

[Thedreamer]

 

2 hours ago, kestrel said:

Ha! Loads of people I talk to rave about how their wood burners heat the whole house....when I moved in I was all keen to see what all the fuss was about.... Not much it seems😂

maybe it's just a sub optimal install

 

I have been heating the house with just a stove, three 1/2 years in now, and, an electricity bill for heating of £10 since June 2020. Just needs the right house design and the right location.

[kestrel]

Yeah to be fair I think the problem is down to the position of where it's been fitted. Hopefully something that's not too much hassle to sort out

 

[Marvin]

Hi @kestrel

 

Yes. Not so good to heat all those bricks if it an external wall...

[kestrel]

So I did some more investigation and thinking about how I might be able to pull the stove forward into the room a bit more.

The current install has a double bend flue connection pipe similar the one pictured 

 

 

 

Would it be possible to replace that with a double 90 degree bend?

The only thing is I don't have that 50cm gap shown in the image so not sure how I'd be able to get access in order to swap the parts.

 

 

Any ideas?

Edited October 17, 2023 by kestrel

[Russdl]

I guess you’ve checked to see if there is a rear exit flue option on that stove?

 

Some stoves have the option of top or rear exit flue and if yours does that may solve your problem. 

[kestrel]

1 hour ago, Russdl said:

I guess you’ve checked to see if there is a rear exit flue option on that stove?

 

Some stoves have the option of top or rear exit flue and if yours does that may solve your problem. 

No. Mine doesn't have it

unfortunately 

[joe90]

If this were mine I would get rid of that brick hood completely , I think it dies not look nice ( just my  opinion), I would make a larger opening much higher, you could still have a brick arch if you want or an oak lintel (far enough away from the stove , this was mane on m6 last build and worked very well.