All That's Practical About Wood- Stoves, As A Fuel, Heating
When A Fireplace Is All You Have For Heat
 | By Ralph Ritchie (Bio and Archives) Sunday, February 10, 2013 Comments | Print friendly | Subscribe | Email Us |
If the grid fails and your furnace is shut down, and all the other heat sources are disabled, you had better know how to use the fireplace to its greatest effect.
It would have been nice to have a stove-insert or a wood stove in there, could be the cost, or maybe you liked the decor of the fireplace. Ah, well.
Most of this article may be found inn detail in our book, All That’s Practical About Wood- Stoves, As A Fuel, Heating.
Here we are, needing heat, and all we have is a fireplace.
History of Home Heating From A Fireplace
History shows a chimney on the outside of a cabin. Perhaps it was made of small logs and mud-coated inside. Quite likely it provided heat and cooking, too. We are not unfamiliar with wood burning. After all, wood is still the most common renewable fuel. We all know how to burn wood. We must learn how to burn it properly.
In the Cities
Coal was the most portable fuel when wood was not available.
I have never seen an open fire stoked with coal, except for a blacksmith’s forge fire. They were clever enough to burn it with a forced-air supply with a bellows. Never saw one of them in a fireplace.
I have lived in a house with a furnace located in the basement and hot air circulation was by convection, through a duct system. Hot upstairs- cold downstairs.
I have also seen air, laden with soot,( unburned oil or coal smoke), so thick that you could cut it with a knife.
Defining Efficiency
Anything that allows the most heat contained in the wood to be released for heating or cooking.
The nominal efficiency of wood burning in an open fire is around 20 percent. That means you are getting the heat content of one log when you have burned five logs. It also means you are going to need a LOT of wood. It also means that there should be a constant fire-attender taking care of the fire.
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Ralph Ritchie, Ritchie Unlimited Publications, runs Surviving Times of Trouble, a site set up to help the average person cope in times of trouble.
