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My argument is to keep the door open, we are only trying to keep our living room warm. I get the concept that keep the door close heats the metal and warms throughout, but I live in new Zealand and if you don't know heating is non existent. anyways the goals is to heat only our leaving room which is blocked off with blankets. Some of us say keep the door open as it gives direct heat into the room, and other argue differently. Let me know IF you ACTUALLY know what is right! Pretty sure door open is best.
To add to the comment below, by heating the metal i mean that the fireplace is metal, and the assumption is by keeping the heat in, the metal chiminey going up through the house preserves the heat as well as the actual fireplace. My flatmates argue that this preserves heat, but in contrast I say the costs (aka amount of wood required to heat entire chimney) do not meet the benefits. It is a 7 bedroom uninsulated house (small for 7 bedrooms) therefore the goal is to at least keep the living room warm. We have looked up multiple things, and some say keeping the door open burns through wood much quicker, but we all have agreed there is more direct heat comes out when the door is open. So long story short which 1.) Creates more heat into the room once fire is going? 2) what is more efficient? and 3) what is better for our Cause which is that we want our living room warmest possible as it is winter here!
Answer
YIKES! It depends 100% on the age and design of the fireplace and how it was installed. There are essentially three types of solid-fuel fireplaces. Many more, but they may be grouped into three basic types:
a) The conventional wood-burning decorative fireplace installed in centrally heated houses to be used, but not to be depended upon for heat (first link below): This fireplace is designed to direct most of the heat and all of the smoke up the chimney. The smoke-shelf is designed to increase the draw and prevent any smoke at all from getting into the house. Further, the more efficiently it works the more air it takes *from inside the house* to function. At best, fireplaces of this design are energy neutral. Many are considerably energy negative. If you have a fireplace of this design and want it to heat **leave the doors CLOSED**. Only in that way will you get the benefit of radiated heat from the fire itself.
b) Solid-fuel burning heating fireplaces (may burn wood, bituminous coal, peat, lignite and in some cases anthracite - second link): These fireplaces are designed to exhaust fumes but direct heat into the room. As you can see, the firebox is slightly extended into the room, there is a ventilated back and an iron firebox to keep the fuel elevated. There is no smoke-shelf and ventilation is strictly by induction (draft). Starting a fire in these beasts is a trick, and if allowed go cold one must start over from scratch, but once going they are relatively efficient, about 30% of the heat generated comes into the room. These fireplaces were not normally installed with doors, but if you have one, leave them OPEN.
c) Modern sealed fireplaces or inserts (third and fourth links): These are pretty much late 20th century developments and may be anything from a purpose-built sealed heating fireplace that draws combustion air from the exterior and often have electric booster fans on them. These can be up to 60% efficient, some very recent units claim up to 80%, and some hybrids have catalytic converters on them for even more efficiency. Also not cheap. These are typically installed as complete units. Doors closed in these cases.
We have a Type C in our summer house that will keep 900 square feet quite toasty even at 20F on the outside. We have three Type As at our main house, and we run them for decorative reasons only as if all three are going (family occasions) the house will get quite cool quite quickly from the draw.
Last Bit of Lecture:
One perceives heat in three ways:
Conduction - touch something hot. This is pretty obvious.
Convection - stand in a stream of warm air and get warm. This is generally how central heat is perceived.
Radiation - stand in front of something very hot and feel the heat coming off it. This is primarily via infra-red radiation and how many passive electric heaters operate. And this is what you are feeling standing in front of a hot fire. BUT- BUT! the flue is still drawing smoke *AND* warm air from the rest of the house -meaning that you are warming yourself yet cooling the house. Local benefit, general negative.
Hope this helps.
I have split level home and room tempeture is so different.....?
jpae0018
there's about 10 degrees difference down stair and upstair. my mother stays down stair and me and my husband stays upstair... espcially in summer time it's never cool enough upstair and frezzing cold down stair.... what can I do?
have celing fans in everyroom upstair... and closed the vent down stair...
Answer
I had this exact same problem. I have a downstairs fireplace with a wood stove insert I use for additional heating in the winter, to lessen my electric bill. I found the way to even things out was to use a whole house circulating fan. I installed it mainly for distributing heat in the winter but found it works for cool air in the summer. Mine was added after the fact and sits in the cold air return and is in addition to the fan in the bottom of my electric furnace. It runs all the time when I have to use heat, which is about 6-7 months out of the year. The heater vents upstairs are all only 20% to 40% open. The vents downstairs are fully open so most of the air flow is directed downstairs. The whole house fan equalizes the distribution of heat throughout the house by moving the air around all of the time instead of just when the furnace is on like the built-in fan does. It took me a while to balance out the air flow In a single level house, a couple of ceiling fans would do the same thing. In the summer, the only thing I change is to open the upstairs windows and the chimney dampers. You would be amazed how much air flow there is in an open chimney without a fire from a hot living room in the summer, especially after sundown when it gets cooler outside. It isn't perfect. There still is a difference between upstairs and downstairs, but it is much less than it was before I had the fan installed.
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