I've got this red brick fireplace taking up half a wall.Capped the chimney decades ago, but it's still sitingthere conducting heat outa' the place thru the bricks.How would one go about calculating the "R-value"to estimate the heat loss. Any useful rules of thumb?Trying to decide whether to put insulation over the brickson inside or outside or both.

On Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:02:51 -0800, mike wrote ReWhat's the R-value of a fireplace?:Brick has an R-value of 0.8 but there are other materials behind thebrick. You'll have to identify them and add their R-values to thebrick. Both if you can do it.

What's the R-value of a fireplace?

Dec 05, 2010 21 Replies

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zek 15 years ago

I the other house about 40 years old, the mortar had cracked and left a lot of holes all around the front of both fireplaces.

I had tried stoves in those fireplaces, and it was hard to seal gaps around the flue. It does not work well unless you add another pipe the same diameter as the stove outlet in the chimney. The draft is screwed up otherwise.

Now I intend on putting in a stove downstairs. I already have a chimney, but I just need to properly install it. The insurance people want a professional install. I have a lot of wood to burn on my property, otherwise a cord of wood is about $70 if you haul.

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Roy 15 years ago

=3D=3D All fireplaces are a waste of time, money, space and are heat wasters in the grand scheme of things. Most of the heat simply goes up the chimney. Wood burning furnaces or space heaters make far more sense if they are designed properly. =3D=3D

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