Fireplaces

[lordkenmore]

For some reason, I thought about fireplaces tonight. Maybe because it's a snowy, cold night where I live. (Cold by my area standards.) It would be nice to sit by the fire, sipping hot tea, while I <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">annoy everyone on AW.org</span> post on AW.org. Alas, though, there is no fireplace here.

 

I grew up in a couple of houses that had fireplaces. One apparently inspired my parents big gift for themselves one Christmas: a screen and tools. (First year in that house.) I don't remember it, but we lived in a house later on that had a fireplace, and one happy  memory was using that in winter. It was hugely saddening when we stopped using it--some concerns that chimney cleaning was overdue. My mother and I talked about getting it done the last couple of years we lived there; however, the budget was tight, and we never got around to it... Although I did sort of revive the main fireplace by tossing in yard sale find set of electric logs. So we had "a fire" the last winter (including the last Christmas). 

 

I miss fireplaces, and think "someday" I'd like to have one again...although I suppose they aren't the best things for the environment, or the wallet, if used. (Although I suppose gas fireplaces would be better on both counts. But there is something about real wood fires I still like.)

 

So how about others here? Does anyone else have and use a fireplace?

 

[goatfarmer]

We have one, that we put a fireplace insert into. Equipped with a blower, it keeps the living room toasty warm this time of year.

 

[appnut]

The house I grew up in had one.  All 3 of my houses have had them and I have used them.  My current house featured a "heat-a-lator" blower in it and particularly enjoyed how well it kept "the common area" warm.  I haven't used mine for 20 years due to being laid off in 1997 and subsequent financial issues.  And unless a huge financial windfall is bestowed on me, I probably won't as I would need the chimney to be inspected and cleaned before I even purchase wood. Neighbors around me still use them.  I kind of enjoy the smell outside when it gets really cold and the fireplaces are used. 

 

[frigilux]

I have a wood-burning fireplace but never use it. The former owner used it all winter and put a few logs in it for show when selling the house. They are still in there 14 years later, LOL.

I burned down a barn when I was 6 and since then cannot imagine having a fire---even a controlled one---inside the house. If western civilization collapses I suppose I can knock down my backyard fence board-by-board and keep warm.

 

[panthera]

We use a sealed combustion chamber fireplace with blower

And big quartz glass doors. It can warm the house by itself in the transition period and cuts the gas bill by more than half in the sub-zero periods. 

I don't see how burning wood contributes to pollution, the sequestered CO₂ just gets returned.

 

The sad thing - it used to take us at least two hours to cut down the dead treas and load a cord.

Thanks to beetle kill, the last run wasn't 45 minutes from start to finish. I put my hand on one 5" tree and said, 'let's cut this one...'when it snapped.

 

The local forest service was pretty nasty about letting us cut wood even 10 years ago. Today, they're so glad to get the dry, brittle, burns at a glance stuff out of there they even smiled at us when they checked our permits.

 

I love a wood fire. The animals adore it.

[this post was last edited: 12/9/2016-09:00]

 

[iheartmaytag]

I wanted a wood burning fireplace.  It was on my list when I bought the house, because a few years back there was a big ice storm where power was out for up to two weeks; I wanted a back up. 

 

In an 80 year old house I got a former Coal burning fireplace that had been converted to gas.  It's cleaner, works to make the room toasty, and there for an emergency.  Just doesn't quite have the ambiance of warm flickering flames.

 

[wayupnorth]

I have a big fireplace in the center of my house with a heat-o-lator. It is absolutely worthless for generating heat into the house as it all goes up the chimney.

 

[panthera]

Tim,

Something isn't working right, if that's the case.

 

[wayupnorth]

If I keep a hot fire going for 3-4 hours, there is some heat coming from the heat-o-lator vents but I feel it is way too much work when my small Hearthstone propane "woodstove" gives instant heat and is powerful enough to keep the entire living space comfortable in the event of a power outage when my oil boiler wont work.

 

[panthera]

Tim,

There is definitely something wrong. You should be getting strong heat output as soon as the draft is established. You might want to check that out.

You won't get the level of efficiency our sealed combustion chamber does - outside air in, not room air, but there should be a good return of heat. Perhaps a former owner closed a draft or something fell across a duct? You'd be surprised how many stupid things happen. My parents' first house in the US was ice cold in two rooms whilst the rest was very well balanced. After many attempts to 'fix' it by various furnace people, it was an Italian cousin visiting in February who solved it: The previous owners had stuffed a pillow into the cold-air return line to those two rooms. Pillow out, whole house balanced and comfy.

 

Take a good look, do a smoke test, I bet something's blocked.

 

[ea56]

Tim

if all the heat from your fireplace with the Heat-o-lator is going up the chimney try installing a glass fire place enclosure on the front. This way when the fire is dying out the heat will still be relected back into the room.

We live in 35 yr old two story, 1250 ft townhouse. The only heat source we had when we bought it were electric, hydronic baseboard heaters with thermostats mounted on the wall and there was also a manufactured fireplace installed in the living room. The first winter here I hit the ceiling when we got the electric bill. Using the fireplace as it was wasn't much help unless we kept a roaring fire going all the time, because with out an enclosure all the heat went up the chimeny as the fire started to die out. We had an Avalon woodstove insert installed with a blower and that worked great. But the fire box required that the wood be no longer than 15" to 16", and to get it started it took a lot of babying with using progressively larger pieces of wood as the fire got going. And the wood had to be really seasoned and dry, or the fire just smoldered. Since I was still working full time it was a real hassle splitting wood all the time. So we switched to pressed logs, like the old Presto logs. These were wonderful, but expensive. Our next door neighboor, who's unit is identical to ours got a Whifield Pellet insert and she loved it. So we went back to the dealer we bought the Avalon from the year before and he gave us a great deal on a trade in for the Whitfield insert which we had installed the day Princess Diana died. This pellet insert is the bomb! It's easy to start,(although the self started never worked very well). I use Sure Start fire squares to start it. The pellets are easy to store, not too expensive and the stove with its blower warms the entire house in about 15 mins. Its cheerful to watch and easy to maintain. I've never regretted this purchase. We still use the electric heaters too, but the pellet insert helps to keep the cost of heating under control and really warms a cold house quickly.
Eddie

 

[wayupnorth]

I have glass doors, damper works fine but wood is just too much work. I have a few neighbors with pellet stoves but are useless in a power outage.

 

[twintubdexter]

Fireplaces in the Southern California Desert...

The area I live in is relatively new. Wood burning fireplaces are illegal. I have a gas fireplace which I occasionally use when I have company. Most of the heat produced goes up the vent (chimney) so it's really just wasting gas. Fortunately gas is not expensive here. I often smell mesquite burning in the evenings. Maybe it's a BBQ, although I wouldn't be surprised if some yahoo is trying to burn wood in a gas unit. I suspect the vent on top of the chimney would be tell-tale black. I'd report it to the fire department if I spotted one...just call me a mean old man, even at this time of year. Scrooge was right, Christmas is a humbug.

 

My vote for the best "A Christmas Carol" ever...

 

[foraloysius]

Woodburners and fireplaces are a curse for a lot of people with asthma. Inside and outside. Whether the wood is dried well enough or not. It creates a lot of fine dust that is a nightmare for sensitive lungs. I will never be able to have something like that and would get serious lung problems if neighbours would use one with little wind or wind from the wrong direction.

 

[appnut]

Tim, is your fan blower motor working correctly? On mine, once the fireplace really heats up the metal, I turn on the blower and it pumps out the heat. 

 

[wayupnorth]

I have 2 fan blowers on either side and both are working fine. I think the problem is the fireplace is in the middle of a 16'x40' room with a cathedral ceiling and all the generated heat goes up to the top of the ceiling and ceiling fans really dont help alot.

 

[lordkenmore]

I don't see how burning wood contributes to pollution, the sequestered CO₂ just gets returned.

 

I've heard the argument in Mother Earth News more than once that wood is ahead of other fuels. In order for the system to work, we need to plant trees, which clean the air. Meanwhile, fossil fuels carbon content is locked deep within the earth...until it's pumped or mined and then burned. And when burned, there is usually nothing to compensate, like a brand new tree.

 

One can also argue that a fuel spill involving wood is a lot less devastating than petroleum.

 

Another factor to keep in mind: newer wood stoves and inserts are much cleaner than had once been the case. Indeed, there is evidence of that in my state. In the Tacoma area, there has been real concern about air quality (and I think it's a national concern, probably EPA). During certain periods when air pollution can be a real problem, there would be burn bans. The first to be banned would always be plain fireplaces and older stoves. I think it reached a point where wood stoves in one area now legally must be a low emissions design. I have mixed feelings, because I can see having an antique stove, and wanting to use it, but the area has had the pollution issues.

 

[foraloysius]

Here's an article that explains how woodburners and fireplaces can be a threat to your health.

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/952/1/Beware-Your-Fireplace-Or-Wood-Burning-Stove-May-Be-Harming-Your-Health.html

 

[mattl]

I've got 2 real fireplaces and one fake.  The real one now both have gas logs.  I put a gas log in the living room fireplace last fall, and that room got a lot more use, especially when company was over.  Had stopped burning real wood in there decades ago simply because of the mess of cleaning out the ashes.  The other gas log is in the library and get a moderate amount of use in the fall.  I can light it and run it very low and get a good deal of heat out of it and delay starting the furnace for weeks, if not a month by settling in there for the evening.  That gas log dates back to the mid 60's and is not as decorative as the newer unit in the living room, but it is still enjoyable to watch.  I newer one in the LR has a serpentine burner that generates quite a realistic flame, plus the embers glow much like a wood fire.  The design certainly has come a long way.

 

Got to agree with the OP, a cold snowy evening by the fire is something i look forward to, especially after all the holiday prep is done and the trees are up.  Sit back, sip some good red wine and enjoy the flames flickering.