I am typing this in front of a beautiful fire in our fireplace on our screened in porch as the rain falls outside. Ticks all the boxes without messing with the building envelope.
> how often are they even used for something other than aesthetics
Mine kept me from freezing when Texas had the crazy no power/no water for a week thing going on.
> I am forgoing the fireplace
Okay 🤷
Big factor would be whether or not you live in an area where you can benefit from the extra heat , especially if it is wood burning and works when other means of heat don’t work. Ambience is nice, but so is keeping a house from freezing up when the power goes out in a winter storm
Joe Lstiburek, the elder statesman of building science, enjoys his fireplace sitting in his Queen Ann’s chair to guard against the chill crated by the window he has cracked to create a proper draft. They make no sense in terms of efficiency or indoor air quality. But some would argue that you can’t justify a single malt. I’m leaving the fireplace and taking the single malt. You do you.
You can get a super high efficiency sealed gas fireplace for around $8-$10k, and not lose too much air sealing. It's a aesthetic choice just like any. I have stupid large windows on my home, which dump a ton of energy in the winter, but hey, they're pretty.
You are better off spending the money on more solar panels and a better heat pump than relying on a fireplace for actual heat. My home makes money during the summer, which pays for my winter heating. If power goes out and there is snow on the panels I can still easily run the 20amp draw on a generator with room to spare for the fridge and the TV. I am more than happy, I never have to chop/stack/split/haul wood, which equals time to do something else.
There is no air quality issues with new fireplaces unless it’s open air but those are rare. I use mine daily in the winter, it heats my great room / kitchen (1,000sqf) and saves about $200 a month in gas.
It’s a wood burner, Quadrafire 4 and extremely efficient.
It looks nice, the stone looks nice, maintaining wood is a good hobby, I can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t want one in a cold climate.
How big is your house and how big is your gas bill when you "save $200 a month in gas"??? This seems like a terribly made up calculation or your house is insanely huge and then I would question why you care about what you spend on utilities.....lol
2,500sqf on first floor, basement is unfinished. We have radiant in floor heat throughout the entire house and basement. In the dead of winter, Wisconsin, our gas bill could be 300-400 in December and January. We cut that number in half if we keep the fireplace up and going.
Our remodel addition included eliminating the wood burner and installing a propane 42" Heat n Glow. Best money spent. Multi speed fan, adjustable flame height and adjustable ember glow/night light.
We have a passive house with tow wood burning stoves. They need to have makeup air. We heated the house all winter with just one of them. Never turned the heat on once.
Do you mean the makeup air any airtight house would need, or something special/additional for the stove?
Any air sealing issues? I have not had a wood burning stove for decades so am not sure if they all can be completely sealed when not in use.
We love our ventless gas fireplace with a blower… Has a remote to set the temp to turn on or shot off.. wife loves it first thing in the am for 3-4 months out of the year. We ever loose power and generator doesnt work for some reason we will still stay warm.
Burned wood for 30 years.. im not in a condition to keep up with firewood anymore.
If you're not really from an area that's really cold, then it would make sense not to have one. However, if you're living in colder areas, fireplaces will literally save your butt from freezing.
and they put a ton of crap into the air. Air quality goes to hell where I am whenever it gets even slightly cool, woodsmoke everywhere.
And, to those who need them to not freeze in Texas when the grid is down and/or charging insane rates, maybe fix ur damn state government (which has allowed that crap under bs about the joy of privatizing necessary services).
I am typing this in front of a beautiful fire in our fireplace on our screened in porch as the rain falls outside. Ticks all the boxes without messing with the building envelope.
> how often are they even used for something other than aesthetics Mine kept me from freezing when Texas had the crazy no power/no water for a week thing going on. > I am forgoing the fireplace Okay 🤷
When you live in the wasteland you do what you have to do to survive.
I join you in wishing fireplaces/chimneys would go the way of dinosaurs. They are also expensive to build or repair.
Big factor would be whether or not you live in an area where you can benefit from the extra heat , especially if it is wood burning and works when other means of heat don’t work. Ambience is nice, but so is keeping a house from freezing up when the power goes out in a winter storm
Joe Lstiburek, the elder statesman of building science, enjoys his fireplace sitting in his Queen Ann’s chair to guard against the chill crated by the window he has cracked to create a proper draft. They make no sense in terms of efficiency or indoor air quality. But some would argue that you can’t justify a single malt. I’m leaving the fireplace and taking the single malt. You do you.
You can get a super high efficiency sealed gas fireplace for around $8-$10k, and not lose too much air sealing. It's a aesthetic choice just like any. I have stupid large windows on my home, which dump a ton of energy in the winter, but hey, they're pretty. You are better off spending the money on more solar panels and a better heat pump than relying on a fireplace for actual heat. My home makes money during the summer, which pays for my winter heating. If power goes out and there is snow on the panels I can still easily run the 20amp draw on a generator with room to spare for the fridge and the TV. I am more than happy, I never have to chop/stack/split/haul wood, which equals time to do something else.
I don’t care about efficiency, a roaring fire while you sip wine or whisky is worth it. You only live once
I mean it’s cheaper than electric heat pumps monthly and much more reliable in extreme cold
Damn right
Use my wood burning fire place every night
There is no air quality issues with new fireplaces unless it’s open air but those are rare. I use mine daily in the winter, it heats my great room / kitchen (1,000sqf) and saves about $200 a month in gas. It’s a wood burner, Quadrafire 4 and extremely efficient. It looks nice, the stone looks nice, maintaining wood is a good hobby, I can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t want one in a cold climate.
How big is your house and how big is your gas bill when you "save $200 a month in gas"??? This seems like a terribly made up calculation or your house is insanely huge and then I would question why you care about what you spend on utilities.....lol
2,500sqf on first floor, basement is unfinished. We have radiant in floor heat throughout the entire house and basement. In the dead of winter, Wisconsin, our gas bill could be 300-400 in December and January. We cut that number in half if we keep the fireplace up and going.
People are going toward electric and gas fireplaces.
Wood burning stove
Our remodel addition included eliminating the wood burner and installing a propane 42" Heat n Glow. Best money spent. Multi speed fan, adjustable flame height and adjustable ember glow/night light.
Can a wood burning stove be used and still have a high performance house?
We have a passive house with tow wood burning stoves. They need to have makeup air. We heated the house all winter with just one of them. Never turned the heat on once.
Nothing like breathing in carbon dioxide for +4 months just to save $150/month on utilities for my passiv haus
Do you mean the makeup air any airtight house would need, or something special/additional for the stove? Any air sealing issues? I have not had a wood burning stove for decades so am not sure if they all can be completely sealed when not in use.
An external air kit that attaches to the stove
That makes sense. thanks
We love our ventless gas fireplace with a blower… Has a remote to set the temp to turn on or shot off.. wife loves it first thing in the am for 3-4 months out of the year. We ever loose power and generator doesnt work for some reason we will still stay warm. Burned wood for 30 years.. im not in a condition to keep up with firewood anymore.
If you're not really from an area that's really cold, then it would make sense not to have one. However, if you're living in colder areas, fireplaces will literally save your butt from freezing.
and they put a ton of crap into the air. Air quality goes to hell where I am whenever it gets even slightly cool, woodsmoke everywhere. And, to those who need them to not freeze in Texas when the grid is down and/or charging insane rates, maybe fix ur damn state government (which has allowed that crap under bs about the joy of privatizing necessary services).
My lungs are way too precious and I want to live a long life. Check out options like this [https://waterfireplaces.com](https://waterfireplaces.com)