Hello all, I have an old stone walk-in fireplace. the opening is 40" tall by 68" inches wide. This is very elegant with a beehive oven to the side. It is a reproduction however, built in this century.

The flue is 12" round and the chimney is 14' high. The chimney is outside on an exterior wall. The fireplace has smoked since we moved in. It also leaks water.

We decided to attack in logical steps, so we removed the throat damper and placed a chimney top damper on. We also repointed the chimney (it smoked along its lenghth) and water proofed it. The original liner was made from steel and each section was about 2 feet high and appeared to be riveted at each section. It was 14" round. We just put in a 12" SS liner and had it insulated along its length.

Alas, it still smokes into the house (but no longer leaks!). We are now considering what direction to go next.

option 1: close down the opening. We are at this point thinking about building up the floor of the firepalce to create a hearth, probably 10" -18" tall. This would make the firepace opening smaller. We discussed closing the side of the fire place as well.

option 2: Leave as is and go the power top vent. These are pricey, (2k for this application) but with only a 14 foot chimney, this may be our only solution.

We thought about creating a glass front with a door, but have decided against that. It would cost the same as the power vent and probably look silly, on top of being a pain to keep clean.

So, who has a power vent? How well does it work, how loud is it, and what is the maintenance like? Do you have a problem with make-up air?

One other thing, those with raised hearths, how high are they? 18" is seat height, but that might be too high.

TIA