use fireplace and boiler

They did this sort of thing

In Scotland and other places back in the day and even today there are some still out there. Of course the last one I read about was in central England. The article was how it was closed off poorly and the plumber was charged with man slaughter as it blew up and killed the little old lady who lived in the flat. If you want to heat with wood and have a fireplace get a fireplace insert with a blower fan to circulate the air.

Bad idea... I have had a personal experience...

When I was just a rookie plumber, I had a hair brained idea to install a copper tubing heat exchanger on a wood burning stove insert in my basement fireplace. THis was before I knew anything about controls, so the circulator that was supposed to move water between the stove and the 80 gallon storage tank I'd installed, forgot (who ME?) to get turned on, with a roaring fire. My youngest daughter was in the study playing while I was working, and said "Daddy, how comes the stove sounds like grandmas tea pot?" It then dawned on me what I had done. I grabbed her, and started heading for the door when the coil cut loose. The steam explosion blew the two of us out of the room with a huge whoosh. By the grace of God, neither of us got burned. We just got pretty shook up. Fortunately, other than minor water damage from the burst coil, there was no significant structural damage.I cut the coil off and drained it and never hooked it up again.



Rookie ignorance on my part, for sure, but pumps fail, and power failures happen.



I would not recommend it be done.



I also use to work on a major condominium back in the 80's that was all solar and wood, no back up heat. They had installed coils inside of the stoves (stainless steel) which were then connected to the solar storage tanks, which were connected to baseboard heaters. I got a call from one owner about a steam explosion in the ceiling below his stove. I found a 3/4" type L copper tube that had parted company and had imbedded itself in a 2 X 10 floor joist. I could not pull it out. I cut it off and capped it and told him he was going to have to install a conventional heat source.



Don't do it.



ME

Can Work If Done Properly

Over 40 years ago, when I was first married we lived in a 3 room flat in Glasgow Scotland.  This is the time before central heating, natural gas or any other convenience.  Almost all places were heated with coal fireplaces in every room except the bath.  The fireplace in the kitchen had what was called a back boiler which was a HE that was located behind the brickwork in the fireplace back there was a sliding plate that caused the heat to be sucked from the flame up behind the brickwork past the HE.  The pipes from the fireplace were connected to a large tank (30-40gal) that was located up in a cabinet close to the sink (there were 14' ceilings).  This tank was open to atmosphere.  The water circulated by thermosyphon.  It work OK lots of hot water.  Later when the coal fires were on there way out, they just stuck electric heating elements in the tanks and called them immersers that you turned on about a half hr before you wanted not water.  The big disadvantage was you had to have a fire in the summer just to have hot water.  And to what most people think it can get pretty warm in the summer.

Lang May Your Lum Reek

Charlie,

  I was one of those terrible yankee sailors stationed down at the Holy Loch sub base.

I used to stay  on my days off with a family in Provanmill, my wife is from Dennistoun  by Alexandra Park and when we married we lived in Bridgeton near the cross.  Glasgow in the 60's was a totally different place than today.  We go back every year  or so.  It was a real neat place to come of age.  So many intresting things to see and do.