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

[Westsidex]

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?

A badly fitted flue would be the cause of downdraft in most cases. A half bag of coal is a 8 euro. I get timber off ppl that chop trees down so i buy coal but not much. Disavandtage of an open fire is having to stay there watching it but its great when the weather is crap.

Westside.

[thehighwayman]

You can put something on your chimney called a cowl that stops downdraught. There are various different types that stop downdraught, rain entry, and prevents birds,vermin entry.

[Westsidex]

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.

It depends on the U value of the construction materials and methods used to insulate around the edges of fixtures like windows and doors etc.. These new houses are shit in most cases imho.

Westside.

[Westsidex]

You can put something on your chimney called a cowl that stops downdraught. There are various different types.

Yep they are a good job,
Westside.

[Westsidex]

My whole point is even if someone never used it ,why block it? I have central heating that works both off the back boiler in the fireplace or an oil burner as well. Its connected for both but the open fire is way better. The oil heating constricts the air in the room and is very unhealthy. If you fit a pump on the main flow pipe after the back boiler and put a stop valve to isolate the upstairs ,you have a very good system. You can heat the room your in and an hour or so before bed you open the valve and heat the upstairs.

Westside.

[sharkskin]

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.

Most romantic place for sex?

Cold winter's night, roaring log fire, fluffy rug on the floor in front of it.

The logs are from a tree that I planted a generation ago on the land that slopes down to the river from which I caught the pair of trout that we had for dinner. We drank wine from a bottle that I placed in the cellar around the time that I planted the trees.

Aaaaahhhhhhhhh the memories.

So WTF am I doing in Dublin?

Must be something to do with where there are jobs. At least I have an open fire here.