Chimney techies advice needed

[Cat7139]

We have a double chimney in the centre of our house. On one side, in one room, there is a Die Dietrich cooker/woodburner and on the other we have an elegant 18th century fireplace which is very small. The floor bricks have been painted and the tile surrounds are very much crackle glazed but I'm not sure what kind of fire has been here in the past. There is evidence of an old wood burner which must have sat well into the room.

The DD has the usual metal tube which is fitted high up into the chimney breast. It then sits onto a platform which directs the flue into the chimney which serves the fireplace in the next room. Therefore, as we don't use it very often, it could be isolated.

The smaller elegant fireplace in the opposite room is the one I wish to open up.

I have cleaned the chimney in this room, which is in good condition but the initial opening is not very wide/broad. I would like to get some kind of fire going just to keep the main chill off. I'm worried about a small open woodfire because the room sits above a cave and the floorboards are newish pine (big fire hazard!) Also, I think the fireplace may be too small for a fire that would be worthwhile!

We could install a very very small woodburner, with an inox tube. This room is not used everyday but needs to be heated. It has electricity but that is too expensive in France! We are looking to achieve the cheapest option as we already run two woodburners which almost equates to a full time job!

If there is anyone out there who can advise or suggest please have a look at the photo on our web site www.pictureburgundy.com

There is a photo of the fireplace on the home page.

Thanks,

Catherine

[Bob T]

Cat, I have just taken out a small woodburner to put a bigger on in. The small one had a flue of only 125mm as standard. Would that sort of thing do? At least that way there is no chance of an open fire spitting hot bits onto your floor.

[Cat7139]

Yes, it's definitely a smaller one that we need but not a standard rectangular one. I saw an old woodburner in a depot de vente a few weeks ago which was very flat and looked as if it would fit inside a shaped fireplace as opposed to an inglenook.

The flue outlet on th back was a small rectangle, not the rounded type. I'm wondering if the fittings would still be avalilable to connect to a modern inox liner. If anyone has a similar one I would appreciate the advice as it would be my luck to buy the antique burner and find out the fittings don't exist.

Catherine