Art wrote:

Hi:

I'm new to this group and wondered if anyone had any advice about the
following:

We have an old house with a nice old granite fireplace which seems to
let in a lot of cold air. It also doesn't allow passive solar heating
during the day, as the adjoining room (both south-facing) does, which
has windows. We don't use the fireplace, and won't. Does it make sense
to knock it down and put in energy-efficient windows across the
south-facing wall, adding heat and light during the day? We're not
planning on selling the house -- at least within 10-15 years. We live
in a Northwestern marine climate (Tacoma): lots of rain, not too hot in
the summer, down to about 20F in the winter.

Thanks for any help

Art


Off the top of my head:

Will removing the nice granite work devalue the home
when it *is* time to sell?

Get a dollar est from a contractor to do the removal.
Weigh that cost too.

Is there a flue in the chimney work for furnace/water heater?
If so, there will be a big expense to get around that.

Jim