#Double sided fireplace indoor outdoor install#

Gas, on the other hand, is great for very wide fires (wood fires need to be much boxier or they'll go out/smolder), and allows for easy viewing areas with lots of glass and no concerns about cooling the firebox. Large open or glass expanses, especially on multiple sides, will prevent the fire from getting hot enough to not smoke you out of the house (unless you try to build a crazy bonfire in your living room, which is a good way to burn down your house). The fundamental problem with burning wood in the sort of fireplaces you pictured is that wood needs high temperatures to burn efficiently, otherwise it will smolder (if you've ever experienced a campfire, you've observed the smokiness you get from an excess of air cooling the fire). This isn't great for you and will also irritate your neighbors (and their lungs) Wrecks outdoor air quality, with emissions 10-20 times higher than the alternatives.Cannot (safely) run unattended, dangerous without sufficient spark shielding, requires constant (every 15 minutes) tending.Wrecks indoor air quality, from not having combustion gasses separate from indoor air.A double-sided fireplace will likely have even higher cfm losses. Negative efficiency if you have a central heat system (inefficient combustion combined with a huge amount of exhaust means your heating system will have to work more to balance the losses from the fireplace).The problems with traditional fireplaces:

#Double sided fireplace indoor outdoor install#

You shouldn't install a traditional masonry fireplace at all - inserts, freestanding stoves, or zero-clearance fireplaces are all reasonable options.

Doing it with wood is very expensive for fairly low efficiency, but if you're just looking for the ambiance of wood specifically, the Supreme Duet insert is the only double-sided one that I know of. I would strongly recommend using gas for this sort of fireplace.