Fireplace in the Music Room

The first thing I thought of was would the heat effect any of the equipment (DAW and other electronic gear)? If not, I think it's a great idea......possibly a first!! :)

Yeh the humidity was my concern/thought on it.  Not sure but Id bet a humidifier would almost be required in the room.

Not that I don't agree with Herb but....

Temperature plays a very big role. Equipment like a constant temperature.
The wood instruments like @50% humidity.

So if you can control both the better it is for the woods.

So what if don't control these?

The temperature changes would probably not be fast enough to cause immediate
damage such as cracking the finish on a guitar but enough to cause tuning hassles.

The humidity issues will effect certain instruments more than others- such as an acoustic
guitar and depending on the amounts (low or high humidity) and the time of exposure will determine the results.
The results being the wood swelling or drying up...both are not good effects.

Location of instruments also comes into play. A good example is having an acoustic guitar
hanging on an outside wall...the back maybe against a colder temp. than the face.
Easy to imagine it....a cold backside and a warm fireplace front-side...not a good thing.

So personally I'd first have to decide if I was after the heat or the heat and being able to
visually enjoy the seeing the fire.
If it was for the heat I'd probably go with a free standing stove. It would be easier to control the heat and the humidity with it I believe. Just keep it stoked and a kettle of water
on it.
A fire extinguisher, fire/carbon monoxide alarm, and meters/temp. and humidity.....and with friends like mine maybe a few warning signs and possibly some caution tape or railing lol.

Free Stander I forgot about those.  That would be the ticket Id assume.

Yes the fire draws the moisture out of the room Mesh.

The temp swings would create a huge issue with tunings as well Id think. (Even though thats something I keep an eye on everytime I touch something )

I keep all my guitars on stands out from the walls just for the temp differences. Not a good thing to have changes from one side of the piece to the other.

Ah, I love Michigan as autumn kicks in! We've had hail up here by Sleeping Bear Dunes, 3 days in a row and are putting our yard stuff away, though I'm sure there'll be some nice Indian Summer days, still to come. I'm plotting out the warmer wall to put my guitar rack on, myself! Keep us posted on your discoveries RE humidity, etc. I suppose keeping a open pot of water on the stove helped, when I had a Franklin stove in the room next to the studio-instruments.
    I used to do an autumn campfire story-teller gig up here and refused to take my Martin, Taylors or Galloup outside. So, I bought a used Yamaha beater acoustic and tried not to notice how cold the back was ( or I was!) compared to the top! It probably isn't that cold in your music room!
Michael

Humidity will be something to keep an eye on.

Static in the winter and computers dont mix, not to mention what it will do to wood  

Southwest corner but the lake and casinos (Berrien Springs area)

Bought 25 minutes away, Buchanan

Yup anytime they call for snow, Means we get 10 times the amount projected for anyone else

In the 70's, I used to get a call from a pal at Electro Voice in Buchanan, whenever they had demo'd gear. That was fun to remember! I got my S100 PA speakers which I used for 40 years! and a RE20 which I wish I still had, slightly "not new" with warranty, too! Lots of old friends in your neck of the woods.

How's the floor structure in the room? The most instrument friendly solution would be a "real" fireplace, one made of bricks and with ability to store heat.

That means the fire/smoke does not go into the chimney from the pit but circles up and around and under the pit before going to chimney, thus heating the stonemass. There must also be double steel plates to close the chimney after the fire's out. This way you only need to have a fire for about two hours (if it's a small fireplace) and the structure will stay warm for up to 24 hours or more (depending oin the structure and materials). That kind of fireplace doesn't get overly hot, but spreads the heat evenly and the temperature variation in the room is much, much smaller than with those metal things that get hot in two minutes and cold in 30 minutes.

I'm not sure if you know what I'm talking about, nor if such are available where you live. Some time ago I asked people here on the forum if any of them know what an actual fireplace, one meant for heating houses, is like. I was curious, cause I've never seen one in american movies, for example. IIRC nobody actually knew what I was talking about.

Light flashing!! You're in Michigan! There are lots of people from Nordic countries, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, aren't there? There must be sensible fireplaces as well!

But I do realise a stony solution may not be possible in this case. It needs a solid foundation as it weights hundreds of kilos and they're reasonably expensive too compared to mere stoves.

Yeh will have to go with something along the lines of the cast iron stand alone. Floor has a subfloor to it (suspended up off the concrete floor under it) About 12" below. 

I have the oil filled radiators already for this year but have an abundance of wood easily accessible. I love the thought of being able to see, smell and hear a nice fire every now and then-Thats where I was wondering how others might deal with their equipment in an atmosphere like this.

Ill have to get me one of those humidity/temp gauge things to keep an eye on it once I do do something with fire.

I agree with ya JB but here in Michigan we have to worry about Codes, Insurance Companies involvement, etc...

They add such a big head ache to wanting something simple like going free standing, flue pipe has to be just so so going up and sticking out, floor has to be signed off on, and on and on.

They do what ever they can to get their fingers in on our business to make more money for the city

Jonbouy


Yeah, they're like that here too, you even have to get the colour of your own front door approved before you can paint it...lol.

I like they keep it straight so those not well versed in construction dont buy a bad house but in small towns they see all that goes on and show up to check ya out. (Kinda like Rosco P Coletrain & Boss Hog )  I just wish Daisy would come with 'em when they do invade

this kind of thing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16896101030&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA

in arctic areas like this I would go with underfloor heating for even distribution.