Why Rumford?

The answer is simple, Radiant heat.

The shallow fire box, being as tall as it is wide, emits abundant radiant heat that you can feel about your entire body as you stand before it. It will lower your primary heating costs drastically.

The smoke Chamber design and Smoke shelf allow a draft to enter from the flue and exit the same way. This gives a continuous and even much like a fine cigar. The results are heat, efficiency and ambiance.

So why doesn’t every house have one?

Many of the older homes do. In fact many of the larger older homes have several.

The advent of the Franklin wood stove, the furnace and the fact that Lord Rumford was considered a Scoundrel in Colonial America didn’t help matters for the Rumford Fireplace.

However there is no question as to what the most efficient effective and attractive fireplace is. It is flat out, The Rumford.

Although a wood stove will offer acceptable heating results it will never match the ambiance of sitting before the toasty ambers and dancing flame of a true Rumford.

Modern fireplaces were designed in the most part for occasional use. They often work better with a Duralog than actual fire wood. The drafting is poor due to low cost cookie cutter designs that were based more on a developers budget than on the practical side. Corners are cut. Less brick and less labor. Mortar slapping together the fragile masonry components. To the home owner the fire place looks fine because they can not see nor comprehend the Masonry substructure which is invisible behind walls The Masonry substructure is in fact the back bone of how a fire place is designed to heat your home.

Benjamin Rumford designed the most efficient fireplaces to resolve issues In London England with poorly designed fireboxes and chimney systems smoking up city streets.

http://www.famousamericans.net/benjaminthompsonrumford/

How much do they cost?

The inexpensive approach:

Prefabricated units are available for installation.

The Fire box consisting of one layer of block with a fire brick liner. Then a prefabricated mold of a the smoke chamber and smoke shelf is placed on top. A flue enclosed with cinder block to the roof . Then Stucco is applied.

This takes two Masons two days. They each have a tender as well.

The materials cost all of $4000 and two days labor at $6000. That is reasonable for the size of the crew.

R.L. Sanborn Masonry recommends conventional masonry.

Why?

These prefabricated units work well in the dry climates out west however, Lord Benjamin Thompson Rumford was from Woburn, Massachusetts as well as having lived in London, England. His designs consisted of brick and or stone for the cold, drafty, moist, harsh and smoke filled streets of London and not of the arid climates of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and so forth.

Ben Rumford’s massive structures themselves retained heat for hours after the last flames withered out. The hearth still too hot to touch and the entire structure holding it’s heat for hours into the early dawn and radiating the majority of that banked heat until late morning still warm to the touch though few ambers remain buried beneath the ash. The ash forms an isolative barrier between the hearth and the environment.

The benefit of safe heat with no flame is a good reason to go conventional as well.

We design Our Rumford fireplace throats, Flues, smoke chambers and smoke stacks (chimneys) with exacting standards that would even impress “The Old Scoundrel” himself.

The Large opening and shallow box radiate heat into the room much like a mirror reflecting a ray from the Sun. This heat rapidly warms anything in it’s path. Like said before when the flame is gone it continues to heat.

Not to say that those prefab systems are poor quality for that type of climate. Dry spots out West are generally cool at night. A daytime fire would only be needed for cooking, bathing or sanitization. It would not be desirable in those climates to have a structure that would retain and emit huge stores of heat during the often blistering conditions already occurring out side. In these homes the heavy masonry is best used as a major component of construction of the house itself. The large masonry structures act as a buffer between the sun and the Earth reflecting the radiation away as the masonry is usually applied in light shades. In a New England climate the masonry will be susceptible to the Harsh cold, heavy rains, snow, Ice, Frost heaves, Ice heaves, hail, sleet etc.

Being that our aim is to build Fireplaces that are unique, One of a kind Works of Masonry Art with the most efficient working mechanics, we choose to construct our Fireplaces with natural Earth. Preferably Granite, Soap Stone, Brick or a combination of any with less dead space and heavier components. Yes, we do use cement block but in the most limited possible sense. Not every one can afford to spend $30 thousand or more for a fireplace.

Often concealed behind walls, The masonry is invisible. The heating effects are undeniable as the brick and stone contain heat otherwise lost in the molded concrete smoke chambers.

In contemporary homes the masonry is often elaborate and completely exposed.

In the New England Climate the frost will almost certainly have prefabricated components cracked in no time. In New England a foundation must be constructed below the frost line in order to not heave.

It is much colder in New England than it out west and fires must burn hot with Our native Oaks and Maples.

The result of using such a prefabricated concrete system in New England could equal catastrophe. Unless you happen to be extremely lucky. Being a lucky person doesn’t mean that you should play with fire! Dangerous fractures allowing poisonous vapors into your home can and often will result from the intense heat of burning native woods. There are silent odorless deadly fumes such as carbon monoxide that can escape through such fractures.

How Much to do it right then?

That all depends on the materials. Certainly brick is the least expensive way to go and do the job right. If you are thinking of field stone or granite think much higher. Stone is not for everyone. It is for those who are more interested in style than the price. There are alternatives such as veneers and Cultured stone. Cultured stone has become popular as an inexpensive alternative to stone. Though cultured Stone is a low cost way to decorate it does not have the same radiant qualities as stone and brick do.

We suggest avoiding it other than for decorative purposes.

A brick Rumford can be built anywhere from $12000 to $40,000 or more depending on the size of the firebox, the structural height and the foundation requirements which will vary depending on your current foundation.

Don’t forget the flashing. A tin smith is not cheep but leaks are much more costly down the road. The flashing needs to be professionally smithed.

The number of levels in your home and if the unit will be inside or outside are also factors. The inside units will always yield less heat loss but are less costly

The range from $12,000 to the sky’s limit..

The best place to start is $12,000 as a base but expect to pay more. There are mantels and fireplace doors as well to consider.

Remember all of the factors involved before setting a budget.

R.L. Sanborn Masonry has been building Rumford fireplaces for over 20 years.

We are highly sought after, recommended and on the search for interesting applications.

Our masonry Website is easy to navigate and the photos appealing to the eye. The site URL is http://rlsanborn.lifesfreedoms.net/