A Fireplace for My Screened Porch

As you may know I have been singing the praises of my new screened porch. I had to design and build several hundred porches for my clients before my wife and I finally got around to building one for ourselves. Our only regret was that we waited so long…..well our only regret until it recently turned cold. After the tempertures started to drop we decided we should have gone ahead with my original plan of putting a fireplace in the porch.

As a kid, living in this area (Northern Virginia) it seemed like we had real winters that were very cold with frequent heavy snows. For the past few decades heavy snows are more rare and we seem to have a lot of very mild temperatures. So it didn’t seem like we would get a lot of use from a fireplace on the porch.

Well either I’m more sensitive to the cold because of age or the old winters are back. We needed heat, if we were going to use the porch very much this winter. One solution would have been to add acrylic panels to cover the screened openings and add an electric space heater. But that seemed to be too much like turning the porch into another room in the house – we’d lose the charm of the porch. And on the days that are mild we would have to go to the trouble of removing the panels or settle for the greenhouse that was our porch.

So we decided to add a fireplace. They provide heat when needed and do not impact the use of the porch on the milder days or in the summer. Some gas burning models, such as the Stonefire and Sonoma fireplaces, are easy and quick to install and by doing it myself, are an affordable solution.

Some design considerations:

• Floor Load. Fireplaces are generally heavy. A masonry wood or gas fireplace requires a full foundation and cannot be supported by the porch floor. Modular kits are lighter, but still 500 to 1500 pounds. Since most porch floors are designed for a 30-50 PSF live load, the floor may still have to be reinforced.
• Code Approval. Make sure that the fireplace is approved for use in a screened porch. Just because it is an outside fireplace does not mean that it is approved for use on a porch. Approved models will have requirements for clearance as well as ceiling heights and size and type of openings.
• Space. Make sure you have enough room for a fireplace. Many models will project into the room by two feet or more. Will your furniture layout allow for a comfortable distance from the fire?
• Assembly. Fireplaces are heavy and need to be structurally sound to be safe. In addition, if this is going to be a DIY project, the parts have to be able to be assembled by just a few, inexperienced people. Many models can only be installed by a professional.
• Gas Hookup. Leave the hookup to the gas source to a professional. A gas leak is not a good thing.
• Type of Gas. If you are considering a gas fireplace, you need to decide on Liquid Propane (LP) or Natural Gas (NG.) Most log sets burn one or the other and cannot be converted, so you want to find out which is available to you.

We decided on the Stonefire fireplace kit with an LP logset, (http://cottage-outfitters.com/stonefire-outdoor-fireplace.htm ). It is a heavy fireplace and will require some additional floor framing, but it matches our porch style and it is a very efficient unit.

I can’t wait to get it installed and get back to enjoying my porch without having to wear a parka and gloves.