When we bought our house it came with this open fire.
We only use it as a decorative thing ie Christmas etc as we know they are so in efficient (however they do look nice!)
Is there anything that can be done to make it more efficient ? I wonder about putting more substantial iron work in to it? Would putting bricks underneath the grate help? Or is it a lost cause?
Ta
watching with interest
you could drop a stove into the fireplace? the trouble is most of the heat is lost straight up the chimney, I don't see how you could restrict that
A chunk* of heat disappears up the chimney. When we didn't need to worry about Santa, we had the chimney swept, put some* artisanally-cut logs in the grate and a lump* of polystyrene inside the chimney
*Brexit units of measurement
More ironwork in the form of an enclosed box, with a variable air intake and a window so you can still see the fire?
That's what we did with he open fire we had. Loads better. The open fire drew so much air through that it you could feel the resistance closing the door too, and if you were closer to the windows than the fire, you could feel more draught from them than heat from the fire.
Bit OTT if you're only using it once a year, but, as above, I'm not sure what else you can really do.
It's been a while since I've had an open fire but they do kick out a fair bit of heat. May not be efficient compared to other heat sources but it's still heat and they look nice! 🙂
A proper cast iron surround would help as they act like a big radiator when up to temp.
if it's only for decorative use, especially as it's obscured by the gauze, I expect there's some electric thing that you could replace it with that would look 99% as good! We got a fake electric log-burner thing 2nd hand, I rewired it to bypass the actual heater and added a smart-switch so the fire effect is now synced to the central heating in the living room i.e. when the radiators come on so does the "fire". Sounds crap but, psychologically, it does really work to make the room feel cosy!
Sorry perhaps should have been more clear. Currently used decoratively as it isnt very efficient.
If we can make it more efficient we would use it more for heating purposes, not just decoration
Replace with log burner, add a back boiler to link into central hearing system. Spendy though.
We put an inset stove into ours - works well.
It doesn't put as much heat into the room as our other [freestanding] stove, but it heats the entire chimneybreast up over a few days which then acts as a storage heater.
In theory, some kind of finned iron arrangement at the back of the fireplace would heat up (a lot) and re-radiate a large amount of heat into the room. I don't know if anyone makes these though.
Replace with log burner, add a back boiler to link into central hearing system. Spendy though.
Yeah, this. If you had any particularly friendly plumbers (and an open-vented heating system) it might be possible to rig up a couple of heat exchangers on either side of the fireplace opening and route them through the central heating pipework via a seperate pump and thermostat. I'm looking at similar as an add-on to our stove and it seems to be a thing.
Have a look at Jetmaster type fires
You can get fireplaces that have a heat exchanger above and behind them to heat air that is then pushed into the room by convection. Adds a bit of efficiency at a lit of cost as you have to replace the entire fireplace
Our new place has an open fire like that... when i've a few quid I'm gonna smash it back to the "builder's fireplace" and put a log burner in.
DrP
A cassette stove as suggested would be the most efficient real flame alternative and also stops warm air from the room disappearing up the chimney when not lit. Spendy though. About 2-3k fitted. I've got one. Can't remember the last time I used it. Wouldn't bother again but it is useful as an alternative heat source when we're all fighting over rat meat.
also stops warm air from the room disappearing up the chimney when not lit
We have a wool cap thing that we shove up the opening when not in use.
We are not mad keen on the fireplace itself so it would appear the option would be to rip it all out and either brick up or a proper wood burning stove.
On that basis its better to just not use the fire
Inset stove in ours mainly to stop the draughts which it has done superbly so now the central heating does most of the heating.
When it is lit it doesn't kick out anywhere near as much heat as the open fire used to but it doesn't have to overcome all of the draughts and it's more controllable.
Oh and they're handy for decontaminating brake pads on too
Whilst waiting for the funds and whataboutery of putting in a stove (we had a inset put in our dining room and it is very good but not a small job) you can put a chimney balloon up the chimney to stop the draft. Need to remove before lighting bit if only using a couple of times a year is probably worth the faff.
E.g. https://www.chimneyballoon.co.uk/
Also try replacing the the fire guard with a decorative fire screen which will reduce drafts.
Sit closer ?.
Sit closer ?.
Or bring the fire closer?
Await the patented "DrP carpet fire basket" sitting in the middle of all lounges sometime soon..
DrP
I think open fires are around 30% efficient so about 70% heat goes out of the chimney.
Stoves are 70-80% efficient.
The answer is a stove. However, if you only ever use it very occasionally it will be hard to make your money back on that. So, in the meantime, shove a Chimney Sheep in the chimney for when you are not using the fire.
Town and Country Runswick, if you do fit an inset make sure you insulate at the back of the firebox else it will be shite.
A lot of the heat from a 'real fire' is radiant and infra red. More/bigger flames = more infra red radiation (so you feel it more). So very dry softwoods like pine, which burn quickly.
It is possible to build an open fire that is reasonably efficient but it's all linked in with the flu shape, so options now are a stove. Having experienced a jet master I wouldn't spend money on one.
Another reason that open fires are inefficient is the huge amount of cold air that they suck into the room to feed the fire.
That’s why fireside chairs have a high back to stop the cold air rushing towards the fire from freezing your back.
