Does anyone else still use a fireplace?

SlavOz on 06/10/2022 - 14:26

My appreciation for fireplaces really went up this winter. I used it as a main source of heating and it was ridiculously cheaper than previous winters when I would rely on our ducted heating (even with solar panels installed the cost was still absurd).

Can't imagine the ongoing energy crisis (which will almost certainly get worse) is giving people confidence that their "traditional" electric heating is going to be a viable option forever. The thought of people having to ration or cut back on heating during cold winter months is pathetic in a first-world country so I won't be putting my trust in sensible energy policy keeping prices low.

Does anyone still use a fireplace, or is this like people who use house phones or dial-up internet?

Poll Options

  • 125
    Yes - I use it regularly
  • 36
    Yes but I rarely use it
  • 173
    No, but I wish I had one
  • 170
    No, don't need it, don't want it
Home & Garden

Comments

      • SlavOz on 07/10/2022 - 17:18

        What an idea, never thought of that.

        I do find myself wondering whether it's even legal to harvest firewood yourself in Australia. I know in Europe they have lots of untamed forests where people go to chop up their household wood. It might be illegal but nobody stops you because it's so common.

        In Australia they'd treat you like a terrorist.

        • Some Human on 07/10/2022 - 19:54

          They harvest the fallen trees. Technically not allowed to, but never seen anyone get booked.

          You can harvest fallen trees from certain forests at certain times of the year (you'd have to google it) , but they're normally hours away so probs not worth it.

      • beach bum on 08/10/2022 - 12:46

        Rural roadways are a good place to find seasoned fallen trees/branches .
        You'll be doing council/Mainroads dept. a favour.
        Just leave the hollow logs on the ground for all the small animals that use these as a safehome.

  • Ponsonby on 07/10/2022 - 20:48
    +4

    Asthma. Gasping for breath. COPD. If you have never experienced these and have been fighting to get enough air, you have no idea. Google it mate. Bad enough for you and your family if you choose to use a fireplace. Especially bad for your neighbours (who have no choice in the matter).

  • AustriaBargain on 07/10/2022 - 21:12
    +1

    When I was living in the UK I was staying in a townhouse that had a fireplace and the only way to get hot water was to light the fire. Even if it was a hot day, the fire still needed to be lit. The landlord got free coal delivered regularly because he worked in the coal mines when he was younger. And milk was delivered by a milkman in glass bottles, it was the full experience.

    • Hangryuman on 08/10/2022 - 13:40

      reminds me of my youth when an Australian friend survived a winter in a poorly or unheated place in London

      by having sex all the time … I assume he meant with a friend … ;-)

  • Freitag on 08/10/2022 - 06:38
    +2

    They are high on carbon emissions if that is a concern to you.

    • lancesta on 09/10/2022 - 02:29

      Yes and no. If you're on a large property with a population of trees that is self replenishing, using trees as they die is actually probably better than using electricity from the grid when it comes to overall carbon pollution.

  • sauce2k6 on 08/10/2022 - 07:40
    +2

    nah you're the only one in Australia that still uses a fireplace.

  • tessel on 08/10/2022 - 12:40

    Used to. I switched to pellet heater. I love a wood heater but we live on a hill, need to store wood, it's just too much work and time spent. Pellet heater gives almost as good heat without the hassle. We have 2 x heat pumps and they are fine for when it's just cool but they offer nothing in terms of the heat of a pellet heater.

  • Hangryuman on 08/10/2022 - 13:37
    +3

    AFAIK wood burning fireplaces were banned in Canberra due to the air pollution from the temperature inversion in winter where cooler air above traps warmer air below - normally in bowl-shaped landscapes which just happens to describe most cities in the world - built near water sources and surrounded by higher land around

    so yeah out bush where firewood may seem cheap sounds good - as long as it is not affecting negatively your neighbours in a built-up area like Canberra

    have considered energy efficiency - I think fireplace chimneys normally lose at least 60% of the heat straight up and out the chimney - closed efficient recirculating box types may be much better - but I'm using reverse cycle electric air con as my understanding as one of the most efficient forms of heating and cooling

    but we live in an excellent thermal mass double-brick wall and concrete slab unit with neighbours above, below and either side so have minimal heating and cooling costs - the worst case for heating is a free-standing house without ceiling or wall insulation - so if that's your case, you're probably gonna be spending way more on winter heating and summer cooling.

    • lancesta on 09/10/2022 - 02:35

      reverse cycle electric air con as my understanding as one of the most efficient forms of heating and cooling

      Definitely is, has efficiencies of greater than 100% if you look at only electricity from the grid in vs heat energy out (doesn't break physics, extra heat energy is pulled from the environment or something it's pretty interesting anyway).

      If you go from source like say coal to the heat put out into your home efficiencies drop off pretty steeply. Think coal from memory is about 30% efficient from potential energy to electricity. But that doesn't really matter when you're only looking at the electricity cost to heat your place. Just thought it's worth mentioning, as it's pretty hard to calculate wood costs too but I definitely think if you're paying $150/cubic metre for wood, you'd probably save by using the reverse cycle aircon instead. If the woods free then the story is different.

      You definitely bring up a good point about Canberra. We really just release our pollution in other areas when we use power but it's also far better controlled and filtered then half a city of people all burning coal and wood, would be.

  • Baghern on 08/10/2022 - 14:18
    +3

    When i was a kid I lived in a 350k pop city, every used fireplaces every winter … the smog in the sky was terrible

    Fireplaces are great when no one else has one, and you can get cheap/free firewood

  • [Deactivated] on 08/10/2022 - 18:06
    +4

    These should be banned already.

    Breathing in smoke from these are so bad.

    Can't even open up my window during winter daytime to ventilate the house, cus of these a-holes blanketing the entire neighbourhood with smoke. Not to mention stinking up your laundry layed outside to dry.

    • SlavOz on 08/10/2022 - 19:03
      -3

      How many cars do you walk past each day? The fumes from even semi-busy roads are far worse for your health than natural fire smoke.

      • SBOB on 08/10/2022 - 19:38
        +6

        The fumes from even semi-busy roads are far worse for your health than natural fire smoke.

        Got anything to back that up?
        Like actual facts or science.

        E.g recent UK study I found for a quick wood fire vs car exhaust concluded

        https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/emissions-of-air-po…

        Doemstic combustion (ie wood fires in homes) -15 per cent and 25 per cent of PM10 and PM2.5

        Road transportation
        - 12 per cent of PM10 and 13 per cent of PM2.5 in 2020

        (These are across the entire country)

        What do you think the ratio of vehicles to home wood fires is in the UK? There's over 30 million cars in operation, plus all the vehicles larger than cars.
        This guardian article (because you love the guardian) says only 8% of households (there's about 30 million households)

        https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/30/home-woo…

        So, apart from 'Slavoz said so', why do you believe wood burning fires are so much less harmful on a per capita/per household level that vehicles?

        Or yet again, a 'fact' that you'll post completely unbacked by any form of reality, education, or knowledge, but instead just some 'made up' fact, purely to support whatever argument you're trying to make? And even if information is spoon fed to you, your 'open mind' wouldn't even think of absorbing it

        In a period of time where we have more information available to us, more accessible than ever, you're still unable to perform even the most simplistic of 'critical thinking' steps by actually performing even a cursory glance at information before making up a 'fact'

        • [Deactivated] on 08/10/2022 - 21:11

          my guess is because the google search engine is made by woke vaccine dan andrews supporters who are funded by pfizer and the lgbtq+ community to stop people from using firewood because the radical communist president of the USA (Under Socialist Authority) Joe Brandon said so.

        • SlavOz on 09/10/2022 - 14:49
          -3

          This sounds a lot like the COVID statistics
          Lets bury them in bullshit proportion data to make a point.

          That study doesnt say fire smoke is worse for your health, it says there's simply more of it in the air. That's completely isolated from what I claimed.

          Stand in front of a wood fire for 10 minutes breathing in the fumes and then stand in front of a truck doing the same thing. Let me know how you go since vehicle fumes are obviously so much safer in your world.

          • SBOB on 09/10/2022 - 15:01
            +1

            @SlavOz: Thanks for doubling down and assisting in illustrating/proving my point again.

            Appreciated

      • smartazz104 on 09/10/2022 - 20:01
        +1

        OK ban internal combustion engines too.

      • justgooddeals on 10/10/2022 - 10:59

        LOL.

        Why let facts get in the way of good made up theory. Who needs science and actual proof these days¿?

        Just make it up so much easier.

        Sums up 99.9221% of SozOz posts. (Actual fact- just made it up) 😜🤪😀😂🤣

    • lancesta on 09/10/2022 - 02:41

      I think it depends a lot on your area. I've been tpetty fortunate the only time I've smelt smoke is when some idiot in my house has decided to light the pizza oven and walk away from it. I notice as my eyes sting, bedroom hazes up and then I've gotta walk out and fix it. Then wash all the clothes I had hanging up. Happens almost everytime this person lights it.

      I imagine there'd be people like that with the house ones. But regardless if the area you live in doesn't suit it, then I completely understand your point. No-one should be smelling the smoke anymore than you would if your neibour was having a regular BBQ. Can imagine in some hilly areas the smoke would just go up the hill to other houses.

  • peekabooo on 09/10/2022 - 10:59

    Reverse cycle systems are most environment friendly (heat pump is by far the most efficient way of cooling and heating). Firewood/gas maybe cheaper depending on where you are living or what you have got in your backyard. Still the firewood doesn't cut itself or the wood walks into the fireplace chopped upon it's own and the service provider deducts the bill from your card.

    • SlavOz on 09/10/2022 - 14:43
      -2

      Main appeal is that firewood and fireplaces are (at least for now) still mostly decentralised from government or corporate control. They cant stop you from lighting a fire to keep warm if you have the "wrong" opinions. And the added benefit is that while the elites get rich from the war in Ukraine, you dont have to pay for it through higher electricity prices.

      • inasero on 11/10/2022 - 11:20

        Wait till you find out about DRED

  • JelIyfish on 09/10/2022 - 13:41

    Gas fireplace inside, love it. Very effective heating and looks nice. Clean and quick to use
    Wood fire pit outside.

  • Bing0 on 09/10/2022 - 16:52

    Have an unused fireplace, but am looking into getting a closed insert setup in the space by next winter. Currently use reverse cycle but struggles to heat the place well enough. Had a gas heater too, but it’s archaic and costs a bomb to run now.

  • pygar on 09/10/2022 - 17:43

    Modern ACs are pretty efficient. Medium sized ones (enough to heat a room) consume input power somewhere around 1kw-2.5kw with the middle range being most common.

    It should be noted that this is is different to the capacity output (also measured in kW) that is more prominently advertised, which I think leads people to overestimate how much an AC costs to run.

    Electricity is somewhere between 30-35c per kWh. I am willing to pay a couple of dollars for hassle free heating and cooling on a hot/cold day.

  • smartazz104 on 09/10/2022 - 20:01

    Another SlavOz Masterpiece ™ draws all the idiots out of their holes again.

    • SBOB on 09/10/2022 - 21:14
      +1

      He will be sorely missed….

  • kingfisherman on 12/10/2022 - 02:02
    +1

    I use air con

  • capslock janitor on 21/10/2022 - 13:56

    this guy is jv #2

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