Open Fireplace Fires -- Who's burning?

[OldLumberKid]

Believe it or not, first open fireplace burn of the season.* Been busy, been sick, and at work the rest of the time, so the oil furnace has carried all the load.

Today, a balmy 43F, it's not really needed, but it'll keep the oil furnace from going on for a little while, and it does give that classic Vermont winter vacation feel at home. The new dog seems to have taken it as a signal to take a nap.

*I'd like an insert, but a lot of clearance issues, insurance/code checks and financials to sort out first.

 

[Charles1981]

I have a stove and an open fire place. I don't run the open fire place ever... We have some fancy candle holders in there and burn those frequently... but i don't want to waste my wood.

 

[OldLumberKid]

I have a stove and an open fire place. I don't run the open fire place ever... We have some fancy candle holders in there and burn those frequently... but i don't want to waste my wood.

There's no denying it's thirsty on splits.

(Dog snoozin' on the left)

(broken image removed)

 

[jeff_t]

We had an open fireplace when I was a kid. I only remember using it occasionally, on Sunday afternoons. And that was only to make a coal bed, so Dad could throw a grill rack across the grate and cook steaks.

It sucked more heat out of the house, than it put in.

 

[MofoG23]

We have a nice large open fireplace in the finished basement but have not fired it up yet this season. After burning with the insert for years, then using the open fireplace in the basement, I can't believe how efficient the insert is in terms of wood consumption.

We really enjoy the insert, but there is certainly something lost when compared to an open fireplace (the feel, the sound of burning wood....) - it's just damn relaxing watching an open fire.

 

[bostock]

We had an open fireplace in our last farmhouse (plus the jotul F3). No one can debate the lack of efficiency of an open fireplace - it's straight science - but it sure is a nice boost to the feeling of a cool room. The smell, the sounds of the wood cracking, there is no substitute for that on a cold winter day. Economical? Heck no but neither is going to a restaurant for dinner, yet we all do it occasionally anyway

In our house now, we have two working jotuls and no open fireplaces. My stoves have glass fronts for for viewing (and I am OCD about keeping that glass clean), and I can always open the door to hear some wood crackling if needed.

That said - I certainly miss the treat of an open fireplace from time to time

 

[SteveKG]

We use ours frequently. Just for atmosphere and to heat up the room it's in when we hang around in that room. I built a Rumford fireplace, and it will drive you out of the room when cranking, if I load it up more than a very few splits. There is no open fireplace that is efficient in wood use when compared with pretty much any stove. But a Rumford comes closest, and it is great to burn oddly-sized and -shaped pieces of tree or long pieces [my fireplace opening is 36" by 36"]. If I were building another place, I would want to build another Rumford there.

That being said, I have been in dozens of homes with standard fireplaces, box shapes really, and everyone in the room will gravitate closer and closer to the fireplace to keep warm. In my living room, people tend to move back from the fireplace.

But still, for heating the house, we use a couple of wood stoves. The fireplace is for fun and atmosphere.

 

[bassJAM]

I lit a few fires in mine last winter, which was my first winter in the house. But I never could figure out how to get it to draft properly and always ended up with a house full of smoke after an hour. I think my chimney design sucks, I had the same problem with my wood furnace in the basement and ended up having to install an inline fan in the flue to push the smoke up the chimney, otherwise it would backdraft as the fire cooled down.

 

[bsruther]

I don't know if this would be considered an open fire, but we open the doors on the old Buck pretty regularly.
Going to miss this when we get the new stove.

 

[SuperGenius]

I usually waste 1/3 to 1/2 cord of wood in our FP each winter. Luckily, I can scrounge most of that from my back yard, or the neighbor's. I'm getting to buying an insert, which is why I joined this forum, but the payback won't be quick, since our System 2000 uses less than 400 gallons of oil/yr. Mixed blessing, I guess.

 

[OldLumberKid]

We use ours frequently. Just for atmosphere and to heat up the room it's in when we hang around in that room. I built a Rumford fireplace, and it will drive you out of the room when cranking, if I load it up more than a very few splits. There is no open fireplace that is efficient in wood use when compared with pretty much any stove. But a Rumford comes closest, and it is great to burn oddly-sized and -shaped pieces of tree or long pieces [my fireplace opening is 36" by 36"]. If I were building another place, I would want to build another Rumford there.

That being said, I have been in dozens of homes with standard fireplaces, box shapes really, and everyone in the room will gravitate closer and closer to the fireplace to keep warm. In my living room, people tend to move back from the fireplace.

But still, for heating the house, we use a couple of wood stoves. The fireplace is for fun and atmosphere.

Thanks, that send me on a whole expedition around the net, after googling Rumford fireplace -- very interesting. Some amazing fireplaces, including some decidedly medieval peasant-home-like fabrications:
(broken image removed)

and even a (broken link removed to http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/21/claires-31-oven-42-rumford-fireplace-13442-2.html) or two -- well I am pondering an outside mini brick fireplace, so it was a good ideafest.

(broken link removed to http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/21/claires-31-oven-42-rumford-fireplace-13442-2.html)

And there were also some amazing dogs like this wonderful mix, of course, in front of one of those fireplaces.

 

[Sully]

I have insert and open fireplace. Have not used used open since insert was installed. I have a glass door on it. Stuffed flu area with roxul . My wife has logs in the grate and she wrapped Christmas lights on the logs. It looks really good. I like open fire place for the sounds, the smell and the "feeling" but for heating the house not do much. The open fire place where insert is now installed could heat the room. We would shut doors to that room and it was toasty. After some wall removals that was no longer option do insert went on in and it is awesome.

 

[OldLumberKid]

We had an open fireplace in our last farmhouse (plus the jotul F3). No one can debate the lack of efficiency of an open fireplace - it's straight science - but it sure is a nice boost to the feeling of a cool room. The smell, the sounds of the wood cracking, there is no substitute for that on a cold winter day. Economical? Heck no but neither is going to a restaurant for dinner, yet we all do it occasionally anyway

In our house now, we have two working jotuls and no open fireplaces. My stoves have glass fronts for for viewing (and I am OCD about keeping that glass clean), and I can always open the door to hear some wood crackling if needed.

That said - I certainly miss the treat of an open fireplace from time to time

Yes, I hadn't done it for a while, and I was kind of surprised how warm the room got. Like T-shirt warm on a 40F day. My hands smelled like a barbecue, or the dog special snacks.

I guess that will be something we'll give up if we decide to stay longer enough to make an insert installation worthwhile. We also may have issues with clearances to the wood combustible surround, hrrumph.

 

[johnstra]

There's an open fireplace in our bedroom. It was there when we bought the house. Took me 3 fires to figure out how to burn in it, but now we use it occasionally. It's pretty cold in there usually so if my wife wants to read there or do homework, I'll build her a fire. It heats the space pretty nicely but does suck up the wood.

 

[webby3650]

I love my open fireplace! I typically don't use it once winter is set in and the stoves are going. We use it a lot in the spring and fall though. It's lined with soapstone, once that's all hot it cranks some heat out.

 

[OldLumberKid]

I love my open fireplace! I typically don't use it once winter is set in and the stoves are going. We use it a lot in the spring and fall though. It's lined with soapstone, once that's all hot it cranks some heat out.

That's a nice piece of work, the soapstone is def. alluring.

 

[OldLumberKid]

There's an open fireplace in our bedroom. It was there when we bought the house. Took me 3 fires to figure out how to burn in it, but now we use it occasionally. It's pretty cold in there usually so if my wife wants to read there or do homework, I'll build her a fire. It heats the space pretty nicely but does suck up the wood.

I realize in days of old they had fireplaces at strategic points around a house, but I'm neurotic enough about embers downstairs.
What did they do at night time? Sleep and let it burn and hope no burning embers got blow around. Cover themselves with dogs as blankets?
A fireplace in the bedroom imagine that? But sure, it was a part of life once upon a time. Sometime back in the 16th century-ish.

 

[mnowaczyk]

The 1981 Vermont stove company - Shelburne I have (two of) came with a screen that fits on the front so it can be run as an insert or a small open fireplace. It's nice to be able to switch in the middle of a fire, maybe listen to the crackles while watching TV and then close up the stove and turn on the blower when done with the TV. Best of both worlds really!!

And when you get a really hot insert fire and open up the stove, I'm sure you guys know that radiant heat that emanates from the coals... At least at first.

 

[branchburner]

I have a stove and an open fire place. I don't run the open fire place ever...don't want to waste my wood.

I'm hoping if I ever get a few years ahead I wan't feel that way, but for now I have this sense that all my wood "belongs" to the stove, and the fireplace is no longer worthy of a share.

But my stove door will lift off the hinges and I can put on a screen anytime I want that "fireplace feel"... which is once or twice a season. Otherwise, I get my fireplace fix at the in-laws or other locations, where the wood is more generously shared and all that precious smoke goes up in smoke, rather than being efficiently reburned.

 

[isipwater]

Here are two reasons I would prefer burning with an EPA approved stove or insert:

• Burning in ONE open fireplace produces about the same emissions as having 2.5 diesel 18 wheeler trucks running full throttle outside your house.
  
  
• Burning in ONE open fireplace produces about the same emissions as 15 EPA certified wood stoves/inserts.

Besides health issues, I like burning less wood than more.

Particulate matter emissions can cause the following health problems:

• Lower respiratory infections (bronchitis and pneumonia), especially for children
• Increase risk of heart attack
• Increase risk of strok

Sources:
http://yolocleanair.org/woodsmoke.htm
http://www.ehhi.org/woodsmoke/health_effects.shtml

 

[Warm_in_NH]

Was near 40 last weekend. Open fires happen outside at this house, any open fires inside should be
extinguished immediately.

 

[UpstateBill]

We just had one built in our new home this past fall. I have had a fire going in it every weekend. An open fire cannot be beat for the ambiance it provides.

 

[Razo]

I just bought my home in October of this year. After seeing what it cost to keep the house comfortable with the electric heat I decided to give the open fireplace a go on weeknights and weekends while I was home.

I'll tell you what, it warms my small living room pretty nicely. Its only used on certain days/nights though. You have to be there to watch it, Can't leave the house ( I do but only when it burns to complete embers) and when you go to sleep all the heat is sucked out of the house after the fire goes out. What I have been doing is leaving it burn to coals an hour before bed and rake the coals around and spread them out. After about an or so they are extinguished enough to close the flue and go to bed.

I will say it blasts out tremendous heat if you move the screen but I only do that for 5 minutes at a time while I am right there watching it. Like others have said, you just can't beat the smell/sound/ambiance that it creates. I am planning on installing a wood stove over the summer but I am keeping the open hearth to use on occasion. Perhaps I would toy with the idea of a set of glass doors. Not sure though. I've been cooking/heating smoked sausage over the open fire and also roasting marshmallows. I swear that a marshmallow roasted over an open fire tastes way better in the middle of January than it does in July. Its like a special treat during the winter haha.

 

[begreen]

Fireplaces have a heating efficiency of about 5-10% As soon as the fire in the fireplace is dying down it is sucking heat out of the house.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/improve-your-fireplace-efficiency.aspx

 

[Razo]

Your not going to see me argue the contrary. I can attest to that first hand with how frigid the house is the morning after burning in the fireplace. It's all I have right now as an alternative to electric heat. It certainly warms the house while I'm there and there is a fire burning. Its in-efficient, it chews through wood, and its inconvenient but it's saving me a few dollars for now. If I can let it burn down enough to close the flue at night its a huge help. The bricks continue to radiate heat for some time after the fire has died out and the flue is closed.