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Last update 12/09/2010

The Little Red Barn or....
The Mother of all Fireplaces

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barns viewed since 01/12/08
Starting off with a portable sawmill and a large pile of tree trunks, a friend of mine built this nice red barn as a playhouse and to occasionally rent out for special events and auctions.
What a play room!
A barn that size deserves a similar fireplace!
One might ask how one would fuel such a fireplace.  With a fork lift, of course.
If your first flue doesn't draw as well as you want it too, the simple solution is to scab on another flue pipe.  Interestingly enough, this add-on flue draws MUCH better than the one the stone mason built.  
Heating a place that size requires a lot of heat.  If you have an unlimited supply of wood, as he does, then an outdoor wood-burning boiler is the obvious solution.  This boiler supplies hot water to tubes buried in the concrete slab.  This is absolutely the nicest heat I've ever experienced, especially for someone like me who has chronic cold feet.  
Look at the size of that fire box!  The burned paint is what happens when you stoke the fire box full, get distracted and forget to close the door.

The automatic draft controls are built into the door.  I'm not sure how well I like that but it does seem to work well.

 
The Control Box.  This boiler is equipped for dual fuels, in this case wood and natural gas.  The controls transition seamlessly from one to the other.  The gas can be used to start the wood fire too.
Note that though a Central Boiler wood furnace is shown here, I much prefer the all-stainless steel furnace make by Hardy Manufacturing.  I have helped a friend install one and have a couple of years' operating experience.  It is smaller, nicer looking and quite efficient.  The all-stainless construction means no rust or corrosion.