Something i dont get (hint i dont get lots of things but really this takes the bicy.

Picture this, howling winds, torrential rainfall with sleet.your in for the night, stick inside and you......................

cant light a fire because you blocked the bloody thing up? Whats wrong with ppl? With all of the rising fuel prices why in gods name block up a fireplace? I mean whats the bloody point? An open fire cant be beat.

you have heat by convection and radiation. Heat by convection is most appliances. It hears the air. Radiation is an open fire.It heats everything close to it, from the floor to your chair etc.

An open fire is great and you can even out the lights and still see and for all the romantics out there its romantic too.

Stop blocking your f'n fireplaces,
Westside.


PS it vents the bloody house too.

Alot of the houses that were built in the last few years have no chimney. These people regretted it after the cold winter we had last year. You can have gas/electric fires, central heating but theres nothing as good as an open fire. If you have your house well insulated it's very good.

I knew this was the case but wanted something to back me up so I copied this extract from an online article.

A fireplace may look warm and cozy; but, all things considered, it tends to be relatively inefficient for home heating. Believe it or not, fireplace efficiencies typically range from plus 10% to minus 10%. The negative efficiency results from the fire sucking heated air from inside the home to fuel combustion. This air is then vented up the chimney, which pulls cold outside air into the home through the small cracks around windows and doors.

All I can say is thank God for central heating. Used coal fires for many years and what a mess they are. Ruin the wallpaper, paintwork, everything in the room. Having said that it is a lovely warm feeling and hard to the look of a coal fire but so glad things have progressed. By the way have you any idea how much a bag of coal costs now?

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Originally Posted by anon361

I knew this was the case but wanted something to back me up so I copied this extract from an online article.

A fireplace may look warm and cozy; but, all things considered, it tends to be relatively inefficient for home heating. Believe it or not, fireplace efficiencies typically range from plus 10% to minus 10%. The negative efficiency results from the fire sucking heated air from inside the home to fuel combustion. This air is then vented up the chimney, which pulls cold outside air into the home through the small cracks around windows and doors.

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That is true. My old house had an open fire. When there was no fire lit you could feel gusts of wind coming through the chimney. That is to say nothing of the coal dust, grime, birds getting caught down your chimney and the constant coating of grime on the hearth. Viva la central heating.

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Originally Posted by magicalman9357

All I can say is thank God for central heating. Used coal fires for many years and what a mess they are. Ruin the wallpaper, paintwork, everything in the room. Having said that it is a lovely warm feeling and hard to the look of a coal fire but so glad things have progressed. By the way have you any idea how much a bag of coal costs now?

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Some us still use peat so it costs very little. You need very little coal when you use peat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by anon361

I knew this was the case but wanted something to back me up so I copied this extract from an online article.

A fireplace may look warm and cozy; but, all things considered, it tends to be relatively inefficient for home heating. Believe it or not, fireplace efficiencies typically range from plus 10% to minus 10%. The negative efficiency results from the fire sucking heated air from inside the home to fuel combustion. This air is then vented up the chimney, which pulls cold outside air into the home through the small cracks around windows and doors.

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This used to happen with my chimney. Then I got my attic and walls insultated a few years ago and it done the trick. Theres no draft coming through now.

A fireplace doesn't heaten the whole house of course. But it's a good supplement along with central heating to heaten your sitting room and/or kitchen.

Thanks for that. Being from the City I really didn't know.

hey highwayman nothing as nice as the smell of peat burning....x

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Originally Posted by DONEGALANGEL

hey highwayman nothing as nice as the smell of peat burning....x

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You can't beat it. It's turf really we call it up here. I would say that's what they call it other places too. It wasn't as common for a few years but it made a come back with the rising price of fuels. Although the government could stop it as there are places that they don't allow turf cutting.