We have a those that was originally built in 1977 and its built with brick with brick chimney and all. We believe it was originally built as a wood burning fireplace. How hard would it be to convert it back to a wood burning fireplace. I believe there's an insert that they used to turn it into gas. The problem is that gas has gone so high in price per gallon that it would be more cost effective for us to convert it back to a wood burning fireplace. What would we need to do?
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Welcome to DIY.SE! Can you post some pictures of this fireplace? Otherwise, we don't have enough detail to help you answer this.– MachavityJan 18, 2019 at 1:24
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1Keep in mind that simply removing the gas insert and turning it back to a masonry fireplace will demolish any efficiency. You'll need a wood-burning insert to make it worth using (masonry fireplaces just suck heat from your house).– DrewJan 18, 2019 at 18:15
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2 Answers
Verify that the size of the flue is adequate for wood burning. Wood burning fireplaces require larger flues than gas.
Also, you should understand that most of the heat will go up the flue compared to gas inserts.
You should have a chimney expert inspect the chimney to see if was designed to burn a solid fuel. My preference would be that it have a clay tile liner and be well sealed. When you said, "the problem is that gas has gone so high in price per gallon that it would be more cost effective for us to convert it back to a wood burning fireplace", are you speaking of propane gas, or another type of gas? Also, wood can be cheap depending on your supply but it needs a lot of "tending" and "clean-up".
