Heating Your Home With a Wood Burning Fireplace (Valcourt Waterloo)

Can you heat your home in the winter with a wood burning fireplace? Absolutely! When we renovated our old farm house, we wanted a HUGE wood burning fireplace that wasn't just nice to look at - we wanted something that would produce some REAL HEAT.
We looked at wood burning stoves, outdoor wood furnaces, and finally bought a Valcourt Waterloo high-efficiency fireplace to install in our new great room. Not only does it look FANTASTIC - the centerpiece of our great room, it really helps keep our house warm in the cold Wisconsin winter.
We burn about 10 cords of wood every year, pretty much running the fireplace daily from the end of October through mid April. This unit has some really slick features including a forced-air heating kit, which allows us to pull heat off of the fireplace and into our duct work.
We'll tell you all about it in the video. Leave your questions and comments below and be sure to subscribe!

[@Panhead-be8cx]

Nicely done guys. Doing a similar project in Northern Michigan and currently in the research phase and this well-done video helped considerably. Thanks so much.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Thanks! We really love how it turned out. Glad the video was helpful. Best of luck with your project!

[@chrismoore9402]

Great video that’s a beautiful fireplace and I bet it’s amazing in the cold months

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Thanks! It’s really nice to have. We’ve had a 100 degree difference inside to out before (-25 out 75 in)!

[@EthanMiller-h6g]

Using a wood burning fireplace is such a great way to heat your home, especially during those chilly nights! If you’re in Bakersfield and need any fireplace services, I’d highly recommend Fireplaces of Bakersfield. They really know how to make your fireplace experience top-notch!

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Thanks! We love it!

[@keithhouse4969]

Thank you for the great video! Just installed this fireplace! I do have two questions. 1)What are the electronics for while the fireplace is burning at the low setting. (B1 setting) The manual mentions it but doesn’t say how it works. Seems like an automatic electric damper? If it is electric can you use it during a power outage? 2) What is the small handle that is close to the damper? The manual mentions it’s an air supply but when and why would I use it? Thanks for a great video and happy heating!

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

I assume the damper is automatic. It may not be electronic though but I’m not sure. The handle on the right controls the air flow in. Move the lever left is wide open for maximum combustion. Once it’s going if you want to slow down the combustion rate you slide it to the left. I believe that is when the damper kicks in based on the temperature. I’m not sure if it works with the power off. I would imagine it just opens up completely if it doesn’t work so you can still use the fireplace without flooding your house with smoke. We have our fireplace hooked up to our back up generator circuits so if our power goes out for a long time we can fire up the generator. I did find this one a dealers website: “The Waterloo’s smart air control system (patented) has been specifically designed to optimize combustion efficiency. Once the appliance is on and running, the combustion rate must be slowed down by manually closing the primary air damper. Then, when the system detects that the optimum combustion temperature has been reached, it automatically closes the second primary air damper and adjusts the secondary air control. Once the system is closed, it is possible to modulate the level of combustion by adjusting the auxiliary air control.”

[@keithhouse4969]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily Thanks for the quick response. Ya it seems like magic, but I’ll take it! Thanks for taking the time to look into this. Enjoy that fireplace this winter!

[@stewarthanna]

Just found this video, very helpful to address a few questions. If you don’t mind I have two I’d like to ask. 1) I’ve read that 50ft is the max distance to vent the additional heat, how far did you vent to the force air system? 2) what was the overall cost, I’ve been quoted $12k with $5-6k just for the flue.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Glad it was helpful! I’ll do my best to answer your questions: Ours measures right about 50 feet from the fireplace to where it joins the forced air ducts at the furnace. I don’t think there is a hard cutoff - just the longer you go, the more heat loss you’ll probably have. We had to use that flex vent which isn’t the best for airflow but it’s still moving at about 15 f/s well over 100 degrees where it enters the forced air system. The heat slowly migrates up through the vents but we do need to use the furnace blower at times to help circulate the air everywhere in the house. That’s probably what they mean - the fan on the Valcourt system is only going to push the air so fast or so far without some additional help. Depending on how your forced air system is routed, if you need to push the air further, you could potentially add a second in-line fan? Our house was a really old farm house that we renovated and added on, so our duct work is a little crazy. As for cost… I’ll have to dig see if I can find anything. I think 5-6k was ballpark for the fireplace and flue installed. But we had the chimney framed and built specifically for this fireplace…. If you’re converting an old chimney I guess there could be some additional cost. I’m sure framing up our entire chimney and the stonework and the fireplace was well over $12k. I’ll see if I can find our paperwork.

[@stewarthanna]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily thanks for the input. We put a deposit down yesterday on the FP10 and decided to pass on the forced air. Our plan is to install, then if we need to move warm or cold air around, we can do so with some powered venting through crawl space or unfinished attic. Another question came up with respect to the Fresh Air Vent.....any expeirnece/opinion to share? Our home is not air tight, I'm thinking a Fresh Air vent would be a positive addition.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Sorry! I didn’t see your reply. Very cool about the purchase, you’ll like it a lot. I honestly don’t know enough about the fresh air vents to answer your question though.

[@evaklum8974]

BARILOCHE VILLA LA ANGOSTURA SAN MARTIN DE LOS ANDES USHUAIA A R G E N T I N A

[@snakedike]

Thanks for sharing your research and successes. I'm looking into something similar for a home we are planning.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Your welcome! Good luck with your home planning ☘️

[@tylervet]

Really glad to see this wood stove in action, along with the forced air kit. How did you meet the R2 insulation requirement in front of the stove? I am having a heck of a time figuring out the best way. I’m currently thinking 4 inches of durock is my only option.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

I don’t remember exactly - we paid to have it installed by the dealer we bought it from, but if I remember correctly, because of the height off the floor we had it, it didn’t require any insulation for the floor or hearth. Above the fireplace for 4-6 feet or something, it had to be non-flammable materials, so that part of the chase was framed with meta studs and cement board but I don’t recall that needing a certain R value. That said, I think cement board has a better R value per inch than Durock, so depending what you need to do that might save you some thickness?

[@tylervet]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily okay thanks. Durock is the only cement board I could find in stock. If your stove is 12” off the floor, then I believe you are correct that no R value is required. I am considering going 12” or higher off the floor, but like the look of a raised hearth.

[@evaklum8974]

BARILOCHE VILLA LA ANGOSTURA SAN MARTIN DE LOS ANDES USHUAIA A R G E N T I N A

[@CristianCocheci]

Can you (temporarily) keep the doors open without smoke coming into the house?

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Yes, it’s almost never an issue, even leaving them open for a long time. Sometimes if you stack the wood a little funny and have the doors open just a little you can get a weird draft for a moment but it’s rare.

[@jeffdean7623]

I Installed the same Osborn model in 2011. Very happy overall! I hate to say customer service is Second Rate. From incompetent technical staff ( he had never heard of my model number, but even I found it on HIS website. Rude, unprofessional receptionist, using cheap unclear speakerphone to deal with customers. Love the unit, just hate to order parts.(I've needed 1 firebrick replaced)

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Oh no! We haven’t had to deal with CS at all. I do have one cracked brick now I suppose I should replace.

[@TomasArnos]

@TheNorthwoodsFamily This IS really what I ve been searching for. Thank you for your video. I am from europe And have similar setup with my fireplace insert, but still tuning it because it can heat About 65% of our house. I dont have furnace so its air distribution system made Just for fireplace insert. I guess my two fans May not be powerfull enough to get that air trought all rooms... Can I Ask please, what amount of air per hour can your fan distribute? Can you post whats type of fan it is?? Thank you again and wish you doing great

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Hey! Sorry for the late reply. I wanted to go measure what our fan actually moves. Our fan moves air at 20 mph (9 meters / second) through a 6” (15 cm) diameter pipe. It works out to 345 cubic ft / minute (or 9.8 cubic meters / minute). That’s at the fan… through one duct right off the fireplace. The more ducts that branch off, of course, the more air velocity you lose. I’ve thought about adding another electric fan or two farther along the duct work to assist, or potentially some Bluetooth controlled heater vents because some rooms in our house tend to get really warm and other stay colder. Not because of the fireplace, just how our house is designed.

[@TomasArnos]

@TheNorthwoodsFamily Thanks this is great info. We have two main branches from hot air box, for each floor, 6"pipe too, First floor 600 cubic meters per hour, second floor 1000 cubic meters per hour. Total volume of air in our house to heat is About 900 cubic meters, so, I think if I added one more fan it would be great, And couple of ceiling fans with reverse mode to get warm air from ceiling down is planned. Looking forward for your update, or tuning. Wish you Best luck

[@SUELUE55]

We are doing new construction. We are concerned about the weight of the fireplace along with the stone up a 12 ft ceiling. What holds all the weight of the fireplace? The wall of our fireplace will have a walkout basement. Probably is a stupid question but I thought I’d ask you.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Not a dumb question at all. These are stone flats. It’s a “class A” chimney - it was framed, and then clad in OSB. A metal pipe runs up the center. Then they attach a steel mesh to the OSB, cover with grout and then stick the stones on. They’re real stones that have been cut flat on the back side (or corner pieces) that then stick on with the grout when it dries. It’ll hold plenty of weight. The outside of the chimney is even bigger and has more stone. This is what we used - ours is called tobacco fieldstone buechelstone.com/product-category/building-stone-veneers/

[@gregmerckx8557]

Is that not an insert? The ductwork is interesting. It’s like a hybrid between a wood stove and an outdoor wood furnace. You didn’t talk about efficiency between a regular fireplace and an insert/free standing stove. Folks considering the options should know about that. I have a free standing burner and an insert (both EPA) . Does a good job with my 2.4K sq ft home in New England. Happy burning.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Neat! This is not an insert that would go into an existing masonry chimney though it is similar in many ways. This has to go into new construction. We had a Jotul insert in our old masonry chimney before which we really liked. You are right - the efficiency of this type of fireplace or an insert is significantly higher than a regular masonry fireplace even one with glass doors. Happy burning to you too! 🔥

[@hickorydragon8114]

I couldn't find a fireplace that allows hooking into HVAC. Thanks.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

You bet! Glad it was helpful!

[@andrewbrisch2683]

I'm building a 2200 sq foot cape with 8 to 9 foot ceiling where the fireplace will go. I was debating on this model or the LAFAYETTE 11 because I also want to have a mantle with a tv mounted above. How hot does it get directly above with your mantle?

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Not hot at all. We have a stone mantle, we followed the specs for how high to set it. We have fabric decorations up there, matches, deer antlers. A TV would be no issue.

[@donovandaniel]

Would it be possible, in your opinion, to mount a television above the fireplace (not directly, but, with the fireplace sitting directly on the floor, non-combustible mantle, and TV at about 6" off floor?

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Yes I think so - but I would definitely have a larger non-combustible mantle to shield it. You may have to dust it a lot due to the ash / soot.

[@spiritualservicesgodbless7641]

Thank you for the video

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Our pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it

[@evaklum8974]

BARILOCHE VILLA LA ANGOSTURA SAN MARTIN DE LOS ANDES USHUAIA A R G E N T I N A

[@DanDaMan-v5m]

mind if I ask how you're getting the air from the fireplace into the air ducts? I have the same fireplace and I only have the air blower in the front

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

There is a forced air blower kit from Valcourt you can add.

[@denisehughes2898]

Do you have a basement? Will this fireplace keep the pipes from freezing in the basement?

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Yes we do have a basement. It should if you keep it running. It cranks out a ton of heat, but it all depends how you distribute that heat.

[@kirkdinan2939]

Thanks a lot for the video. I was wondering, if you turn the main blower off, does the fireplace still heat the room that it's in efficiently? I'm wondering because in the eventuality that I lose electricity for a day or two, I will need my fireplace to heat my home. Thanks

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

You’re welcome! It heats the room no doubt, but having a fan going does make a lot of difference. Without a fan or blower the room doesn’t heat up nearly as fast and the heat distribution isn’t as even. We did almost two days without power with our old fireplace insert. We were definitely glad we had it, though it wasn’t nearly as good as with the blower. Having a small generator or even some battery powered fans would probably help quite a bit. We wired our house so we can plug in a generator and run the fireplace blower, forced air system blower and a few key circuits right from our breaker panel.

[@kirkdinan2939]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily Smart idea! Do you have to use the forced air blower system if you have fire burning in your fireplace or can you keep it off without ducts overheating?

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Nope - we can use the fireplace without any fans, either fan independently or both of the fans going together. It can’t overheat the way it’s setup.

[@evaklum8974]

BARILOCHE VILLA LA ANGOSTURA SAN MARTIN DE LOS ANDES USHUAIA A R G E N T I N A

[@FirewoodEnjoyer69]

Hello! If I may ask a question, how is the duct connected to the fireplace? is it located underneath the unit or on the side? and how much clearance was needed for it to work ? beautiful fireplace, i'm hoping to do something similar in the near future! thanks.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Thanks!! We love it, we run it every day in the winter and it really use beautiful to have going. The forced air blower duct connects to the side. I don’t think you need much space, just enough for the hose to exit and bend. Maybe a foot? Our duct bends into the basement below then, and the fan has to be at least tent feet down the ductwork from the fireplace. Check out the installation manual - p 66 has more details. sbiweb.blob.core.windows.net/media/3911/45858a_2021-10-27.pdf

[@abbey0221]

We just moved into a house that has this fireplace - one thing we can't figure out is how to access and open the flue? Do you have any insights on this? Thanks!!

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

So the damper actually is what controls how much smoke goes up the flue (chimney pipe). On this model there is a lever on the bottom right as you face the fireplace. Slide it all the way to the left, and make sure the smaller lever underneath it is pushed in and that’s full open. Slide to the right and that is medium. Slide right and pull the smaller lever out - that’s low. The air coming in to the fireplace is automatic. There is a small tube inside the fireplace on the bottom front/left of center. If you still have problems finding it if you IM us a photo at our Facebook page The Northwoods Family we’ll see if we can help you.

[@demetriuswillams972]

How do you clean the pipes at the top of the fire box if that makes any sense

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

I don’t. Those are for reburning emitted gasses so everything in there gets burned off. They are self-cleaning.

[@demetriuswillams972]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily thank you most people wouldn't reply back

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

You’re welcome :) We try to get to all the comments and questions!

[@SleepingGaint]

Whats the difference between that and a wood stove insert?

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

They basically do the same thing. An insert is for an existing masonry chimney, this is for new construction.

[@ericc7792]

Thanks so much for y'alls time in making this video! A lot of great info about the fireplace! In your experience with the fireplace so far, how many sq ft do you believe it can heat without the forced air ducts? The specs state 2,800 sq ft, but would love to know your real world heating estimate.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

That’s so hard to answer honestly. It really depends on the layout of your house, ductwork and if you keep the fireplace going. Our house is about 2600sq Ft, but it’s been added on to and the ductwork is kind of crazy. It heats our upstairs, away from the fireplace pretty good if we keep the fireplace running all the time. But then we have one room that is on the main floor and over the old fieldstone foundation, and that room is always cold. I’ve also thought about adding another blower motor further in our ducts to help / because the fan isn’t as powerful as the one on our furnace. So that’s a limiting factor. The heat is there but the fan power is only so great. We look at it as a way to really reduce our prone costs (we figure it saves us at least 50% on our propane bill) and to enjoy the fireplace and radiant heat when we are in our great room. Sorry I can’t answer that better! It just really depends on your setup.

[@ericc7792]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily thanks so much for your time in replying and your help - it's very much appreciated!

[@theinternets7516]

Have you considered insulating that duct from the fireplace to the central air blower?

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

It crossed our mind, but we actually don’t mind that it provides our basement some residual heat. If you can’t tell our house is a totally renovated old farm house, so we have some interesting basement stuff happening. We still have our old furnace so our ductwork is a little goofy - when the furnace goes we’ll do some rearranging. Our old living room above that crawl space is super cold. I’ve insulated the floors and we’re thinking about adding another heat duct and insulating the existing ones.

[@theinternets7516]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily, was the ability to hook this to the central heat unique to this product or was it something the installer did as a custom job? I looked at the specs for this unit online for more information and didn't see anything about being able to be tied into a homes central heating system.

[@hickorydragon8114]

@@theinternets7516 interesting. I bet they just winged it. Nothing hard about it, but no one wants to take on the liability of specifying it.

[@dougwilliams8981]

Have the same unit. About to tie it into my forced air system. Question: Do you run your air handler fan as well or is the forced air kit fan powerful enough to push the heat to the outlets?

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

If we keep it going the small fan is enough to circulate the heated air pretty good. The ducts stay warm and just that slow continual air movement does pretty good. We’ll let the furnace kick in occasionally to help when it gets really cold. The problem if we run the furnace fan it draws cold air from the basement which isn’t good either. I’ve thought about maybe adding another electric blower fan on the same switch as the fireplace kit fan, but it hasn’t been a big priority because it seems to be doing fine. Probably depends a lot on ductwork, house layout, etc

[@dougwilliams8981]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily Excellent thank you.

[@gernblanstead7833]

I have the same one. What do you set it at to make it burn all night. (A, B1 or B2). I see you load the wood north-South without a log holder. Does it burn better with out a log holder. I just cant seem to get it to burn for very long but i never load that much wood at a time. Also do you always burn with the doors closed? thanks so much for the info.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

We choke it all the way down when we want a really long burn… B2? Lever to the right and then pulled out. You have to have a good hot fire first, and we’ll let the fire burn with the flew full open for a few minutes before we choke it down. We’ll have a pile of hot coals in the morning usually. Of course the wood matters a lot. If we want it to burn all night we need to use oak, walnut, or other hardwoods. We can’t do that with pine. During the day we keep it burning all open or on medium depending on how cold it is and how good our wood is. We’ve never used a log holder. The problem as I understand with log holders is they allow more air to get at the fire - making it burn faster and less efficiently. I would be willing to bet if you get rid of the log holder, and just burned on the bottom of the fireplace you’d get much longer burn times. Mainly we load logs N/S at night so as they burn, they don’t roll into the doors. We seem to be able to fit more wood inside that way too. We don’t load it up like this every night, just the really cold ones. The only time we burn with the doors open is when we are starting the fire or trying to revive it. Usually then we’ll just crack the door for a few minutes. Try it without the log holder and let us know if that makes a difference!

[@gernblanstead7833]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily Thanks sooo much for getting back to me. I have been looking for a good answer. Ill let you know. Have a Happy New Year.

[@gernblanstead7833]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily Just letting you know. It worked WAAAYYY better without the log holder and it actually was still blowing air when i got up this morning with some hot coals still present. Thanks so much for the info.

[@ericschmidt5996]

Just curious as to what your burn times are on this unit?

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

All depends on the wood of course, but if we have oak or black walnut which is common on our property, and we pack the thing full (60 lbs or so) and turn down the damper, it will burn all night (8-9 hours) and we’ll have good hot coals in the morning, the doors will still be too hot to touch in the morning.

[@ericschmidt5996]

@@TheNorthwoodsFamily thanks so much! I actually installed the unit this past fall. I’ve been burning black locust at best but only get about 6 hours. I guess I need to try and pack it completely and see how long it goes. If you get a chance would you be able to show me a picture of how much you load it with? Also are you loading N/S or E/W? Thanks so much, good to get some feedback from another user.

[@miguelsperez9234]

Hello I have a question about the shelf you guys installed. I am installing the same FP15 in my house I am having a hard time to figure out what we need to use . We are planning to install a TV above the fireplace. Thx in advance.

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

It is concrete actually, as is the hearth. If I remember correctly at that height it needed to be non flammable. We looked at soapstone but never liked how it would stain or show dirt. We’ve been really happy with the dark colored concrete.

[@evaklum8974]

BARILOCHE VILLA LA ANGOSTURA SAN MARTIN DE LOS ANDES USHUAIA A R G E N T I N A

[@hickorydragon8114]

Love you guys. Sub!

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

Thanks so much!!! 🙏🏼

[@blb4523]

My wife loves the crackling, roaring sound of a fire in the fireplace. When you close the doors, can still hear some of the sounds of the fire? Or is it totally gone? (Assuming the blower is off)

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

It does diminish the sound to have the doors fully closed but you’ll still hear the popping and crackling. It you want to hear it fully we just leave the doors slightly open - then we still have the glass blocking most of the exploding cinders while still enjoying the sounds of the fire. We then close them up when we need to walk away. Hope that made sense! 🔥☄️🔥

[@trashfire5717]

What you have is an insert not a fireplace!

[@TheNorthwoodsFamily]

You are incorrect. Inserts are units that are retrofit into existing masonry fireplaces. This is a fireplace unit that was installed directly to a newly built wood stud frame. I previously had a Jotul insert which was installed into an old masonry fireplace. They may look the same from the outside, but the construction of the fireplace and how they are installed is entirely different.