Tell me about your experiences with home fireplaces

In My Humble Opinion
1

My wife and I purchased a house earlier this year. This will be our first house (we previously owned a condo), and our first dwelling with a fireplace. Neither one of us have ever lived in a house with a fireplace.

We had a chimney/fireplace inspector, and it needs a lot of work, and we’re getting that work done (should be done in the next week or two). Which will be good timing, since it will start to get chilly soon here in the DC area.

What kind of maintenance does a fireplace need? What are the safety concerns? Will any kind of firewood serve, and can we just store it outside under a tarp or somethng like that? What else should we be thinking about?

2

Up until I was 12 I lived on a farm house that did not have central heating - only a fireplace in the center of the house. Even though it was in the middle of the house and we installed a new metal chimney that was supposed to shed heat as the air went up, we still needed a space heater in our upstairs bedroom when it got around zero degrees outside in upstate NY. If your fireplace is located on an edge wall, then you might run into the same issue with the other side of the house when it gets somewhat cold in DC.

The most annoying thing about it though was once a year or so, a bird would fall into the fireplace, thankfully not when it was in use, and then we’d have to open the front door and place bedsheets to guide it out before we opened the stove. some chimneys might have installments to prevent that on the roof.

I don’t remember how much maintenance it required since I was so young at the time. I seem to recall the chimney tar build-up catching on fire once, but I may be mistaken. I do however think that is once of the dangers - chimney fires from tar buildup - but that’s just from hearing about it rather than experiencing it.

3

If you want to heat with wood at all, get a fireplace insert. Fireplaces suck the warm air out of your house and up the chimney, they are only good for heating people sitting right next to them. Real waste of energy, but romantic-looking I admit.

A fireplace is not very fussy about what it will burn. An insert (essentially a wood stove made to fit inside a fireplace cavity), which extracts a lot more heat from the wood and radiates it into the room, is more persnickety and should be fed mostly well-seasoned hardwoods, although softwoods like pine are easier to start a fire going with.

I’ve heated with wood for 45 years. There’s an art to it. One needs to have a supply of matches, tinder (paper and cardboard), then sorted kindling, smaller wood, and your hardwood split logs, all cut to fit your particular stove. You need to have dry storage. Fishing an armload of firewood out from under a wet tarp in the dark and cold is not ideal (as I know too well). Firewood touching the ground will rot, so laying down pallets is standard practice.

It is a messy business even when all is well-designed. You will also need fireplace tools, log carrier, steel ash bucket, and I recommend having a hand held vacuum at hand as well.

The main dangers are

  1. buildup of creosote in the chimney, leading to chimney fires (that’s why you have your chimney swept annually)
  2. burning yourself messing with the fire (get used to it)
  3. lighting something inadvertently on fire or melting it because you left it too close to the fire.

Your chimney should have a spark arrester screen on it which also prevents @Ludovic’s bird incidents.

4

We have central heating, so the fireplace will just be for comfort and “fun”, not to heat the house. Thanks!

5

The charm and romance of a wood burning fireplace wears off after a few seasons of either hauling or ordering delivery of wood. Storage, etc. Constant ash scooping and disposal.

Gas conversions are an option. If your house doesn’t have gas service, I think you can have large bottles delivered which will last quite some time.

6

Although any wood will burn, some woods leave more residue behind in the chimney and will require more frequent cleanings. Oak is generally a good wood to burn, as it’s relatively clean and doesn’t have a lot of popping when it burns (which can throw embers). Avoid wood with a lot of sap like pine since that will burn hot and can coat your chimney. Unless you do some research, don’t burn wood that you cut from your yard. If you do burn trimmings, wait a season for the wood to dry out.

Get some fire starters, which are waxy blocks which will burn for a while to catch the wood on fire. You can also start the fire with paper and small pieces of wood, but that can be trickier. The fire starters will make it easy.

The fireplace won’t be used to heat your house. Modern houses aren’t designed to work that way. It will really just be used when you want some extra warmth in that room and for the ambiance. The fire will suck in air throughout the house to go up the chimney, so other rooms may get colder. Turn down your heat so that your furnace isn’t working extra hard to heat up the fresh air being pulled in.

Remember to open the flue. That’s a metal plate at the bottom of the chimney used to keep air out when you’re not using it. It’s common to forget to open this when you start a fire, which means the smoke will go into the house. Before you start a fire, open and close the flue a few times so you’re familiar with how yours works.

7

Cancel the decision to have the work done and close the chimney up so no heat escapes that way. If you want the romance or whatever of a fireplace get an electric one.

8

We had a fireplace in our condo and ended up having a gas insert installed instead. Much more efficient, as it’s basically a small furnace in your living room with a fan option to heat. My issue with a wood-burning fireplace (not an insert) is that I was unwilling to go to bed as long as there were any active embers, so we used it perhaps once or twice before opting out. Also, there’s the possible problem of the brick mortar deteriorating, which means exposing surrounding wood to heat and fire (this happened in one of the other condo units).

My parents always had a Franklin stove in the living room, which was pretty safe. It’s basically a free-standing fireplace insert that burns those pressed logs you buy at the hardware store.

9

I can see how some people might feel that way, but it’s far from universal. We’re 20 years in and still enjoy the charm and romance almost daily from October through April. We have one in our bedroom and one in the kitchen/dining area. In fact, we’re planning on adding another one next year when we remodel.

10

Fireplaces are fun. A lot of their usefulness and requirements will depend on how often you run them. I burned pine in the fire place at my last house after I cut down three giant blue spruces the pine builds up more crap (creosote) in the chimney so I made sure to burn hotter fires since that keeps down on build up and we had the chimney cleaned twice a year.

I wouldn’t go to sleep until you can close the flue since other wise it just lets cold air into your house all night after the fire is out because of this we mainly only had fires on Friday or Saturday nights. If you are burning oak and having a single fire per week you can probably only need to get the chimney serviced and cleaned every other year.

We had out heat go out two months ago and didn’t notice until the first snowfall of the year hit and we heated out house for two weeks off of wood. I really enjoyed the smell and with a stove insert we were able to go to sleep with the flue open and keep the house nice and warm. I wouldn’t live anywhere cold without the ability to burn wood for heat just in case the main heat went out.

11

I’ve lived in houses with fireplaces (wood burning… gas and electric suck) most of my life. I’ll let you know when the charm and romance ends… hasn’t happened yet.

12

We just get a chimney sweep once a year. You might want to check your home insurance and see if there’s anything in there about it.

13

Bad advice. Get the required safety work done even if you don’t have immediate plans to use the fireplace. Otherwise, in the future, someone may start a fire, not knowing it is unsafe, and you’ll be very sorry.

There’s more to a fireplace than just aesthetics. If you live where it gets cold in the winter and are likely to lose power, the fireplace may be your only heat. That’s what mine is used for, every winter. Sometimes I have to sleep in front of it if a power outage is lengthy.

If you want to know what kind of wood is best for heat, see page 5 of this newsletter, which lists the fuel value of several types. Ironwood is at the top of the list, but hard to find.

14

Also, electric fireplaces aren’t romantic at all.

15

I have a huge fireplace in the LR and a wood stove in the kitchen/family room. I’m anal about the woodstove. It’s just messy. No way around it. It does heat well.
The fireplace is beautiful when it’s in full fire mode. And is less messy. But doesn’t heat well. I would like an insert in it.
Mr.Wrekker has a small potbellied wood stove in his barn office. That thing gets so hot. It scares me.

16

A small wood stove heats better and you can get one with a window.
I like wood fires – yes extra work and mess, but I actually like messing with the logs and such.
YMMV

Brian

17

This will sound silly, because it is. We bought a house with a fireplace that didn’t have doors. We were ignorant, having never had a fireplace before. We moved in in October, and kept the flue closed, not actually using the fireplace. We were on the monthly budget plan for gas/electric. The next spring, I installed fireplace doors, and after the following winter, our monthly gas/electric budget amount dropped by more than $50. In fact, I think it was closer to $70. Lesson learned. Fireplaces need insulated doors.

18

The number one most dangerous mistake is not knowing how/when to dispose of ashes properly. They can cause a fire long after you think they are burned out. They can cause a fire after you hold them in your hand and they feel cool to you*. Never, never, never shovel old ashes into your regular trash can. Have a metal can they go into and leave it outside away from the building until trash day. Then put it into the bin with the other trash. Old coffee tins work well. Fill with ashes, top off with water, cover tightly and set outside.

Also, never spread the ashes on the ground as they will kill any plants they land on. Ashes + water = lye. It can cause chemical burns to your skin too. Ashes flying around in the air are a serious problem. If one goes in your eye, ash + tears = lye in your eye. It is ouchie and injurious. Keep a pair of safety goggles next to the ash shovel and metal trash can for clean out duty.

Sparks on carpet can burrow in deep and smolder long after you think you’ve put them out. Use a flashlight to check carefully for signs that the spark or coal burned through to the padding before being satisfied that the danger has passed.

Resist the urge to use your fireplace as a way to get rid of paper garbage, especially holiday wrapping paper. Printing inks/coatings can release all sort of toxic stuff as they burn. Light paper can float up out of the chimney still alight and then settle on roof or trees setting them alight in turn.

Get a good set of fireplace tools. Pokers are fun to mess around with but hefty tongs are the most useful. Make sure the business end has some traction, smooth ones can let the log slide around unexpectedly. Make sure they open wide enough to grab a large log securely.

Don’t use bellows. But if you must use bellows, then remember “blow IN, suck AWAY.” Never open a bellows while it’s still pointed into the fire or you will suck up a bunch of sparks and burn your hands (possibly also your house.)

Fire has it’s own will to live. It spreads by fumes, not by flames, and much faster than you can imagine. Have a good extinguisher at each end of the room and make sure everyone knows how to use them. Don’t get the super heavy one your wife can’t lift. Don’t get the one with the massively strong cancerous extinguishing material that you will be hesitant to use. Get one you can squirt quickly, efficiently, and without hesitation. A big bucket of baking soda is a great secondary item. It doesn’t matter if the soda gets old, its job is to smother. (Remember the carpet padding thing!)

Well, I guess I’ve scared you enough for one day. LOL! I do actually love a good fireplace. Nothing says “Holiday” like a roaring** fire. Enjoy!

*Ashes are fantastic thermal insulators. You can easily pick up a live coal with a layer of ash around it and it will feel cool to the touch. Disturb the coating and you will burn your fingers. Drop the “cool” coal in your trash can and it can burst into flames hours later.

** . . . and well-contained . . .

19

We heat mainly with wood, so our three fireplaces have inserts or a wood stove. I do love an open fire though.

You do want to dispose of the ashes really, really carefully. And don’t, uh, vacuum up any live ashes because bad things will happen. Don’t ask me how I know this.

It’s also pretty messy–ashes and wood chips get everywhere. But worth it!

20

A fireplace is charming if you use it only two or three times a year, for special occasions.

More than that is a chore, and the fun fades fast.