Fireplace Worthlessness

[edporch]

I've had a Jøtul C450 Kennebec Fireplace Insert for about 10 years.
It's 50,000 BTU/hr 71% efficient rating.

Our present house came with heat pump heating, which is fine until it gets down to 25F or so.
I moved it from my old house to here and it's been great, and saved a lot on our heating bill.
The fireplace is a masonry fireplace and chimney which gives an extra level of safety beyond the stainless duct that comes out of the insert.

 

[russc2542]

Fireplaces work great if properly engineered. What's in the condo is probably mostly cosmetic and just functional enough to not count as false advertising. It can be made to work but it'll take money and probably **** off the HOA because it means a new firebox, redoing the wall/roof, and running a proper flue pipe.

My mom's house has a very nice fireplace (allegedly about the best available 5 years ago. Supposedly the subdivision builder built the house for himself... oversize garage, huge workshop in the basement with an oversize stairway from the garage down to it, all premium fixtures and fittings, etc) and it actually does a pretty good job heating the whole 3500+ sqft house with a little circulation help from the centeral HVAC. I put in a freestanding stove (all to spec... or overkill) that can burn us out of our house if we feed it right.

 

[Hawkeye7br]

Any time the damper is open, heat from the house is going up the chimney. When you build a fire, it may feel good for a while, but as the fire dies out and the damper stays open to exhaust the smoldering coals, the house heat continues to go up the chimney and eventually cold air comes down it.

The best thing to do is to close the damper and seal the face of the fireplace until the weather warms. Use it as recreation only in mild weather.

 

[NKBJ]

Once looked at fireplace designs actually intended to heat the home. Things that people invented centuries ago are pretty interesting.