Jump to content

open fireplace


Matt
 Share

Recommended Posts

My friend has a very large fireplace with a chimney, which had a woodburner stove, which the previous owners took with them. She would like an open fire. Where can you buy a very large grate etc., reasonably priced in the St Lo area?

Looking forward to many BF crossings in future!!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll third it.  Apart from the sparks that an open fire throws out, there is also the smoke.  No matter how big the fireplace is, you will still find yourself sitting in a grey fog which creates a dusty ash in the atmosphere.

In addition, with a good log burning stove, you can keep it going all night and come down in the morning to enough life in the grate to start it up again with ease.  With an open fire you have to start from scratch every morning - not much fun when it's really cold.

Clara

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote]Open fires are very inefficient. Some wood can throw out huge sparks and burning flakes. A woodburning stove is safer and warmer.[/quote]

I've been thinking the same, we have a large old fireplace and the open fire looks great, but the smoke is too much sometimes.  What would we have to pay for a good stove?  What should one look out for - capacity etc?  I don't suppose 2nd hand ones appear v often.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we bought our house there was a huge typical Norman fireplace and so we really looked forward to warm cuddly evenings around the open fire.  Come the Autumn all we had was a house full of smoke (because we had shut off all the old holes in the outside walls which previously allowed the fire to draw) and we were fffffffffreezing!  However, my husband was determined to keep an open fire 'cos it looked so pretty.  When we went over just after Christmas the outside temperature went down to -9 and it was the coldest I have been for a long time - even with all the electric fires blaring.

So we brought over a wood burning stove from UK (Hunter Herald bought locally for about £500 including the damper and 2 metres of pipe) and just placed it on the fireplace with a couple of metres of pipe sticking up the chimney.  Even without a register plate just having the woodburning stove was much more efficient (we had to go through another winter before we had someone put in a register plate for us).  Now just the one woodburner (14-16Kw) heats the whole of that side of the house - a room 20 feet by 20 feet plus the adjoining kitchen and including the two bedrooms above (because heat rises) and it has cut our wood consumption considerably.

If you want to see a pretty fire - you can always open up the woodburner doors for a while once you have a nice strong burn going.

Valerie

 

P.S. I expect the experts will now castigate me for not having a chimney liner etc., etc., but really the chimney is huge - a large adult could easily climb out at the top and we have it swept regularly too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

I agree with what every one has said about the effectiveness of a wood burning stove, but personally I love the romance of the log fire. I know its not the most economical thing to do but I also have gas central heating which suppliments the heat from the fire and also gets the house warm first thing on a winter's morning.

Sparks can be a danger but if you don't have any furnishings close to the fire then it shouldn't be a problem. If there are no obstructions in the chimney and it's large enough you should not get billows of smoke coming back into the room. Also, build the fire towards the back of the grate.

Jac

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...