Fireplace Safety

[Whiskey]

oh, no i don't think i have one of those. it gets like 65 in here at night when i leave all my windows open and nothing turns on

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I have heated my downstairs entirely with a fireplace for extended periods of time. It's like Little House On The Freaking Prairie over here sometimes.

Granted, my fireplace is fitted with a blower. That helps. If you don't have a blower, a lot of your heat will go up the chimney. But not all of it. You may experiment with a small fan placed before the fire to pull the air out into the room, but I would call that potentially dangerous.

You want a good, hot fire? The key is not to build a big, pretty, roaring fire. The key is to build a pile of red hot coals in the bottom of your firebox. This takes some time, but once you get it going and the surround heats up, it will help heat your room. My dad does not have a blower in his fireplace, and once he gets a good hot fire going, it's too hot to sit in front of it. It's just a regular, deep fireplace with no blower, but it can blast heat out like a furnace if it's handled right.

A small fire, or a cold fire, MIGHT make the room colder. But not once you get it going good and hot. It will heat the room

If you start out with a loose, highly flamable type of fire, that builds up quick heat. Then when you start getting some coals, start putting big, slow burning logs that burn a long time and are very dense. The fire burns slower and requires less oxygen to keep going. This is a fire that will really radiate some serious heat.

[Solumina]

Pretty much ^that^

I love a big pretty fire but if I want heat then it is all about the coals. They suck up next to no air but good lord they can give off heat (and small fires give off much more even heat so they are better for roasting marshmallows).

My mom went without power for about 8 days last winter and she was able to keep most of the house at about 65 (which isn't bas seeing as it was well below freezing outside) so a well tended fire can certainly warm a home.