Is it possible to have a wood burning fireplace in a passive house?

11 år siden

Looking to build a passive, mostly off-grid house. Fireplaces generally create unacceptable air infiltration troubles. Need the fireplace (if possible) in our delightfully cold winters.

Fremhævet svar

John and Rebecca Surprenant

11 år siden

Consider a wood stove with a glass door and a completely sealed outside air-supply system, if you're building a certified passive house or any other "tight" house. Check out www.rais.com. We're using the Gabo for our super insulated home, designed with PHPP and shooting for .6 ach @ 50 pascal. Make sure any other brand you consider has a sealed outside air supply, there are two kinds, the other still draws air from the house. Also the supply pipe should be metal not plastic. Wood Stoves have been done in passive houses and other tight buildings and if you have access to wood on your property, I think it's the way to go. No electricity required, perfect for off grid or if the power goes out. A regular fireplace is a air leakage and thermal bridge nightmare.

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(12) kommentarer

Darzy
11 år siden
If you want an off-grid house, I would think a wood burning fireplace would be a must.
PRO
Walden Design Group - Cynthia Walden
11 år siden
My understanding is the same as yours regarding the danger of even the EPA certified fireplaces and stoves in a passive home. I've stood near the ethanol fueled fireplaces at trade shows. They throw off a surprising amount of heat. I've heard they are suitable for a passive house, thought don't take my word for it. I would be interested to hear what your energy consultants recommend. Good luck with your project.
PRO
McCabe By Design LLC
11 år siden
My recollection is that passive houses can not contain appliances that combust. There are several Passive House certified homes in northern latitudes that have no fire place or wood stove.
PRO
FurnitureNYC
11 år siden
Have you thought about an electric fireplace? This fireplace insert contains devices that create a stunning light effect. Go to http://www.furniturenyc.net/fireplaces.html
Elaine 4nier
11 år siden
I've been thinking about the same thing. I'm in the very beginning stages of planning our passive home. I found a fireplace online that uses combustion air from outside but I don't know how hard they are to purchase. Good luck! http://www.rika.at/en/vitrapassiv/
PRO
Decoflame
9 år siden
Sidst ændret: {last_modified_time}9 år siden
What about a beautifully designed bioethanol fireplace? Safe and easy to maintain they do not require any flue or chimney. Visit http://decoflame.com/ to learn more and feel free to ask us whatever questions you might have and we will be happy to help.
PRO
Sealander Architects
8 år siden
Get a wood stove instead.
User
6 år siden
Why would you want a fireplace in a passive house? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of going passive? Most passive houses by design have carefully calculated heat loads and are tightly sealed against temperature fluctuations. A fireplace would overheat the space and create unhealthy air to breathe. Combustible fireplaces, such as wood, ethanol, alcohol, gas, even though "sealed" are a dangerous and outdated aesthetic. Chimneys are messy, cold air infiltrators and thermal break nightmares. We should not cling to them for fear of resale de-valuation. We are not cave people anymore; we don't need to stare at a fire to feel at home. Try bookcases, tapestry, a well lit piece of artwork...and enjoy the even temperatures of a well built passive house.
Roberto Muller
2 år siden
@tilemaster7 I think the main question is what to do in case of a sustained power outage. Does having a direct intake + vented wood stove that's only used during power outages justify the issues in potential air leakage and thermal bridging that happen via the fresh air intake pipe, the stove itself and the stovepipe with its gaping metal + air hole in a super insulated roof during the +95% of the time that the power is on? Running the wood stove during a power outage shouldn't really be an air quality issue if you open a window enough to provide additional fresh air (again this is in a rare but likely scenario), but I can't think of a way to justify losing all that energy via thermal bridging and likely air leakage the vast majority of the time. I'm trying to find a solution to this for a near-Passive house that gets a lot of power outages and is slow to get power back (courtesy of our local electric utility). We're on a property with a lot of firewood, so it behooves us to try to use it, if possible. It's a hard nut to crack, though! Any suggestions, such as a direct-vented gas insert in lieu of a wood stove, would be greatly appreciate!
hbeing
2 år siden
not a wood stove? i would think it a great option/delightfully snowy is what i'm after. where in the West should i move? :)
Roberto Muller
2 år siden
Update: the sad but likely best solution is to scrap the wood stove or any type of combusting stove as a power-outage backup, and just get a generator large enough to run essentials + the small additional load for the primary (likely air source heat pump) heating system if power doesn't come back on within a few days. I've read that Passive Houses can hold a comfy temp for several days or even a week w/o power, depending on the thermal performance. I can't find a way to justify the thermal bridging from a venting stove (wood or gas) when it's hardly going to be used, so we're giving up on the idea.