Snow Lodge heat

[mass_burner]

I'm curious, in all the magazines they show folks hanging out in ski lodges sipping drinks and toasty warm with just a open fireplace. These places are big, how could an inefficient fireplace keep the place warm?

 

[NinjaTech]

They don't, sure the fire is just for ambiance. Probably have other heat to actually keep the place warm. Looks nice in ads and it's what people expect from a place like that.

 

[DougA]

Photoshop is wonderful and almost all advertising is fake.
There was a discussion a month ago here on how some wood stove are installed in completely illegal ways in the ads.
Although to be fair, after a day of skiing black diamonds, then after a few drinks, not sure a fire is needed to be toasty warm.

 

[blades]

Always seem to have a lot big sweaters on also in the pics.

 

[peakbagger]

Heating load at a ski area is minor compared to the electric use required to run the snow guns. In general ski areas are major energy hogs. In remote areas where the grid isn't heavy duty enough to run the snow guns, the compressed air and water pumps for the snowguns are run by diesels so there is plenty of cooling water to heat the lodges, otherwise hidden away is a big boiler to supply the actual heat in the lodge. With all the skiers covered with snow in the lodge, they need a lot of air changes per hour to pull out the moisture in the air so the fireplaces have an indirect benefit of pulling lots of air through the buildings.

 

[mass_burner]

What about I n the days before snow making machines, I assume they had a big coal furnace?

 

[peakbagger]

The ski industry is fairly recent industry in the US. Although it was around in the 20s and thirties the big growth was post WW2. I would expect #4 heating oil, lots of it, was the preferred fuel.