A Rumford is just a fireplace that roughly adheres to the proportions recommended by Count Rumford who was interested in the radiant heating qualities of a tall shallow firebox rather than the appearance. They are usually as tall as wide and sometimes they are so shallow that wood must be stacked vertically against the back wall instead of horizontally. I have seen examples where the shallowness caused excessive smoking and wood embers to roll onto the hearth. A 48" firebox opening with a height taller than 36" should not cause smoking; smoke is controlled with a properly formed smoke shelf and the correct dimension from the damper throat to the face of the firebox. It's an esoteric an art. Here is a link that might be useful: rumford fireplace info

I don't know if you're still looking for information but... Wow!! That is impressive. I am jealous. We were thinking of putting a masonry stove in the house we're building but we've chickened out. We have heated with a regular old wood stove for years and love it plus we're building a smallish house and begrudge the space these stoves take up. I don't know about the book you were asking about but I have "Masonry Heaters: Designing, Building, and Living with a piece of the Sun" by Ken Matesz. There is heaps of information in it and lots of pretty pictures in it - some of them are of comparable to this one. There is also a website for the Masonry Heaters Association, I think that is what it is called that again has tons of information. Personally, I think you should try to get in touch with somebody who installs masonry stoves so they can tell you what's what and what pieces are missing. You guys are lucky - that is gorgeous. Enjoy!

It is not uncommon in older homes to find that the masonry and timber structure works together to support the load of large fireplaces and hearths. It's not ideal for a few reasons, most importantly - the proximity of combustables to the firebox and flue. The larger fireplaces sound like excellent candidates for a smaller, more efficient rumford firebox and new TILE liners installed from above. Reducing the firebox dimensions (firebox within a firebox) will give you more clearance to any framing, raise the hearth to increase clearances there and slide in a tile liner, use a hose every few tiles and pour in a slurry solution of 6 parts vermiculite to one part type S masonry cement between any gap between tile and masonry chase. It will be a lot of work, but you know that if you've done that kind of work before; the bright side is you'll have safe, efficient, and value-adding functional fireplaces in the home. Also one of the reasons many of those older fireplaces were closed off/plastered over is there was no damper in place, so when central heating came about they caused the house to be drafty and inefficient.

Hi, I googled, found this forum/article and want to add my two bits. I was also contemplating a fireplace with wood-stove features - back in 1991 when I was planning on the building of my new house. I decided the way to go then was to use the Vermont Casting Winterwarm system. It consisted of a 250 lb sheet metal cabinet that had a standard stick frame/plywood exterior built around it and the accompanying insert unit which added another 400lbs - it was then state of the art. The framing created a chase where 8" double walled steel flue was set with firestops (code concerns), insulation and a complete stainless steel sheet capping off the chase, with the vent pipe popping thru, of course. The framing could have been covered with vinyl siding, keeping costs lower, but we chose to brick it all the way up. So the costs amounted to (in 1991 and 1992) for the foundation- a couple $hundred, framing- a couple $hundred, brickwork - less than $3k not including the stove /fireplace/flues which ran under $5k parts and labor. A fresh air vent with shut off was installed at minimal cost - I did it myself. BTW, the fresh air vent is the key to health and happiness here. It minimizes pressure differences between the house and outside resulting in less backpuffing and a moister atmosphere in the house during the cold seasons. The results were that this baby heats my 3700 sqft house down to 10 degree F. everywhere except the room over the garage. When I have it lit, that is. Now the concerns: Vermont Castings ain't like it use to be. the company got bought out by a publicly traded one and the corporate mindset set in. The product is no longer on my recommendation list. My unit, built in 1991 needed a catalytic replacement after 10 years, the second one lasted only 3! Otherwise, I have sunk in less than a thousand dollars in 15 years on replacement parts. As for you concerns on costs: A conventional masonry fireplace cannot be used in conjuction with an insert. New codes stipulate that the stove has to have heat rated pipes going all the way from stove to the top. You can not use clay liners. My suggestion is to find a high quality insert out there made by a company with a wide distibution base, build a zero-clearance or minimal clearance base/chase according to the manufacturers specs, use double walled or better stainless pipe. You decide what to use on the exterior of the frame and the interior walls. But remember, if you think of adding brick/stone to the looks in the future, overhang at least 4 inches of foundation on the sides for weight handling. Good luck! Andy S.