Any wood burning fireplace users here?

[53' Stude]

My dads friend back home uses hard coal and wood in his fireplace. Brother in Carlisle has a nice wood burning fireplace and a fancy one in back room. Nephews always say I’m the “fire starter PRO”

Anyone here have a wood/coal burning fireplace and use it? It feels nice on a below freezing day and night with hot fire going.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

I don't but my cousin about 2 miles from me does. He has cut down several scrub Oak trees and a few Pecan trees that don't produce as much anymore, for firewood. I love the sweet smell of Pecan firewood.
My friend that lives in town has (3) of the Amish Cherry wood fake fireplace heaters. Man, those Amish people sure make a beautiful quality wood product.
'53, you're in Amish country up there in PA., right?

 

[HankHill]

EPA passed some regulations that went into effect in 2020, that made it illegal to sell an outdoor boiler without some new type of emissions equipment to meet the new standards. The price of the units doubled overnight. In order to purchase a new reasonably price wood boiler it had to be an inside unit. The cheaper of the two was the coal unit, for $6k.
They are indoor units, and are installed in your basement. So, pour a slab outside, get a nice weatherproof shed put up and no one will be the wiser. Oh forgot to mention the coal units can burn wood also, so there's that. Pretty soon we're going to see catalytic converters on lawn mowers, generators, farm tractors, every new four stroke engine will be required to have emissions systems on them. And I'll bet we see the discontinuation of two stroke engines. YAY!

 

[53' Stude]

I don't but my cousin about 2 miles from me does. He has cut down several scrub Oak trees and a few Pecan trees that don't produce as much anymore, for firewood. I love the sweet smell of Pecan firewood.
My friend that lives in town has (3) of the Amish Cherry wood fake fireplace heaters. Man, those Amish people sure make a beautiful quality wood product.
'53, you're in Amish country up there in PA., right?

Yes sir I am

 

[tcp71]

We have a wood burning fireplace with gas starter. There is a wood mill in Calgary that sells bags of hardwood ends for $5-10/bag (depending on how much supply they have and how much demand there is). I regularly burn maple, oak, walnut and others all kiln dried and cut to perfect size.

 

[bcossa2020]

I have one that I use 3-5 times per winter. Enjoy it when I need it but doggone it stinks for days/weeks afterward…..

 

[DemoFly]

Wood stove burning 8lbs prestologs for the last 35 years. Every day that needs heat. Sweep the chimney once a year.

edit: I guess I've been calling them prestologs incorrectly and my supplier knows what I mean. They are actually 8lbs Idaho energy logs.

 

[dlundblad]

We have a wood stove in the living room. I love cutting and burning wood.

 

[Dinoburner]

Have a Russo catalytic stove in the kitchen. Burned less than 3 cords so far this season and 1/2 tank oil ,275 gal, usually burn 4 cords and 225 gallons. thank you global warming.

 

[IndyIan]

I have one that I use 3-5 times per winter. Enjoy it when I need it but doggone it stinks for days/weeks afterward…..

You must be pulling air down the chimney. Is your fireplace hard to get a draft going?

We do 95% of our heat with wood in a decent regency woodstove. Open concept house with concrete floors makes it pretty easy to keep the temperatures in the comfortable range.

 

[390pcode]

Yes, 95% heat from wood here, too. Also open floor plan, log house 12" thick log/walls. 5500' elevation, eastern slope of Sierras.
Start with pinion pine and then add oak to get the hotter burn, damper it down for the night. Works well.
Little outdoor smoke once the oak gets the temp up.

 

[bcossa2020]

You must be pulling air down the chimney. Is your fireplace hard to get a draft going?

We do 95% of our heat with wood in a decent regency woodstove. Open concept house with concrete floors makes it pretty easy to keep the temperatures in the comfortable range.

No. I rebuilt it 10 or so years ago and installed a gas lighter and fresh air vent with damper to the proper size for the room. No problem lighting a fire or keeping it burning and plenty of heat.
I’ve even put capped the chimney top with a piece of plywood….no discernible difference In the smell. It’s on an outside wall and the house was built in 1961…..I suspect the wall is nowhere near airtight…….

 

[CharlesInCharge]

I love wood heat. In fact a wood fireplace was a high criteria for me. I just bought a 1935 built house with a beautiful original brick fireplace with well designed low cold air intake vents and a top heat expel vent.

I've had many fires in it in just a month living here. Last night was a little chilly and I had a nice fire.

This is my personal 2nd home with a wood burning fireplace. I've also had a couple houses with gas fireplaces, and those are basically useless for heat. I plan to install a wood stove, either in a separate room or insert here, not quite sure of the best plan yet.

 

[benjy]

fireplaces are nice BUT generally a poor heat source, BUT wood or coal stoves depending on your area can save $$$$!! wood can be very cheep heat but a lot of time to get it. uncle has a soapstone wood stove, beautiful + expensive to install + buy + its very clean with a catalyst, myself i put in a Harman hand fired coal stove + living in the coal region its low cost as i haul my coal + remove ashes myself. its $190 a ton for nut now + under 2 ton yearly, being retired i am around enough to care for it + small stoker are common in my area that require less care. i only have one chimney so i burn coal in the winter + a little oil as needed other times + have a stiebel-eltron on demand 220V water heater piped thru my furnace. warm + economical works for ME!!!

 

[CharlesInCharge]

fireplaces are nice BUT generally a poor heat source

While they are definitely not super heat efficient, with a few strategically placed fans or ceiling fans to circulate air they can keep a house warm; and wood is extremely cheap often to the point of free. Scrap paper and scrap wood or kindling is free, to start it. Then a couple pieces of hardwood will last hours. So if you have the wood fire place, not only is the ambiance almost unbeatable the heat that it does provide is nearly free.

 

[53' Stude]

While they are definitely not super heat efficient, with a few strategically placed fans or ceiling fans to circulate air they can keep a house warm; and wood is extremely cheap often to the point of free. Scrap paper and scrap wood or kindling is free, to start it. Then a couple pieces of hardwood will last hours. So if you have the wood fire place, not only is the ambiance almost unbeatable the heat that it does provide is nearly free.

My brothers property has hundreds of rock oak, red and white oak, cherry etc trees. Woodpeckers kill more trees than the bears honestly. He has roughly 7 cords of seasoned wood to use up. It heats the house nicely if he doesn’t feel like turning the propane furnace up

 

[RhondaHonda]

We’ve got an outdoor wood fireplace on the patio that gets used for s’mores and on some nights sitting outside. My buddy gives me the wood for free. I love sitting out there watching a game with the fire going.

 

[Pew]

My old house had a nice fireplace that the new owners left in when they remodeled the house. My mom's current place also has 2 wood fireplaces whenever it gets too cold in Oklahoma.

 

[Skippy722]

My parents had a nice soapstone wood burning stove at their old house and I miss it. Forced air just doesn’t have the same “warmth” to it. I want to get a wood burning stove at my house but I have no good place for one… maybe if I can convince my wife we don’t need the china cabinet thing her mom gave us that just acts as a catch all

 

[grisby]

I have 4 in my house. 3 wood burning fp's , 1 gas fp and a woodstove in the basement. The stove in the basement keeps the house(2 story) around 68-70 during the winter months.
Wood burning Fp.s are used for damp or not so cold days, gas Fp keeps the wife happy when her friends are over and the stove is basically used from Nov-late March or until I run out of wood for the season. Retired(semi retired but thats another story) so I have time to obtain;cut/split as required but age is not slowing me down. Use about 5-6 cords a yr.