Close call- chimney fire

[Lightyear]

You have a beautiful home BTW.

+1 - I meant to mention that too.  Fantastic house on a nice large lot with just the right amount of trees and clearly meticulously maintained - I'm jealous!

Of course - I wouldn't want to shovel the walks and drives or mess with snow blower   Then again I bet you've never had to flee for your life from a snow storm.

[Lightyear]

I am thinking of a gas hearth. I have a nice period mantle sitting in the barn for just such a purpose.

My sister in law and her husband have built two houses in the last ten years and have installed one these in both houses.  The ones that they have used are totally enclosed with sealed combustion with artificial logs/embers/coals.  You really have to look to tell that it is not real and it generates a ton of heat!  Both of theirs have had a very small, and virtually silent, blower that moved air around the fire box - the one they have now has a remote control for the entire unit.  The biggest sell for them was no chimney and lower insurance rates.

[chromium]

Scott-
Glad to hear you and your family are ok, aside from all the trauma.  House fire is my biggest fear - especially now that we have little ones in the house.  Glad your home is intact too - that's a beautiful pic up above!

We've had gas fireplaces in our last couple homes, and like Lightyear said - it's hard to really tell the difference cosmetically, operational costs are lower, heats more efficiently, burns cleaner...  If you end up redoing yours, you can't go wrong with one of those.  I don't miss wood burners at all.  Seemed liked a lot of upkeep, and down here, fireplace usage is strictly optional.  In your climate, I imagine you'll really appreciate the time you save!

[shadowcastaz]

Glad you and the family are fine and safe. An old friend of my dad told me to put some rock salt in the fire box when it is hot, like once a week an it keep the build up down . . Be safe ,Mike

[ramone57]

wow, thankfully nobody got hurt and the damage to your house wasn't as bad as it could've been.  good luck with your repairs and the conversion to gas.

[uwe]

Wow, you had some real Glück and Massel here, Scott, glad to hear everyone is safe and the lovely house unscathed.

Uwe