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My dad and his father built the house my family grew up in. The fireplace had two vents on either side of the fire box that drew air from the floor and vented n
by dylan604 4mo ago
My dad and his father built the house my family grew up in. The fireplace had two vents on either side of the fire box that drew air from the floor and vented near the ceiling. The ceiling fans in the room would circulate the air in the room. It was the only place I've spent time that a fireplace actually was useful.
- bluGill 4mo agoWhen those work well they're fine but be very careful. It's not uncommon of for smoke to go out what you think is the in intake and often those aren't correctly built as a chimney and so you can burn your house down.
- dylan604 4mo agoKnowing how ours were built, I don't even know what you describe could happen. The intake vents are on the floor with a standard height raised hearth (12"???) while the exit vents are about 6' off the floor. Not really sure how smoke is any where near the intake. The smoke is contained within the chimney. I'm at a loss at how to design something so poorly that the smoke is near any vents. Then again, I've grown up around construction, so maybe that knowledge is preventing me from thinking dumb???
- bluGill 4mo agoMaybe I misunderstand your description. I'm referring to the fresh air inlet for the fire, not additional HVAC pipes. It is common for attempts to put a fresh air inlet in a fireplace to instead have smoke go out that fresh air inlet.
- dredmorbius 4mo agoMy understanding is that the venting dylan604 is describing relate to airflow around the firebox / chimney, rather than in or out of the firebox. An incorrectly-placed firebox intake, or even a poorly-drafting open-hearth fireplace, can indeed dump smoke (and carbon monoxide) into the living / heated space.