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Old 10-11-2012, 09:23 PM
 
229 posts, read 460,377 times
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Does using a fireplace help warm a room? We have one, but haven't used it yet, and have never used a fireplace before.

I read somewhere that fireplaces draw the warm air out of the house and actually do more bad than good. Is that true at all?

Thanks again. I think a lot of people are interested in this topic these days.

I wish gas were available where we live...
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Old 10-11-2012, 09:34 PM
 
Location: Near the Coast SWCT
83,283 posts, read 74,503,009 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marketa View Post
Does using a fireplace help warm a room? We have one, but haven't used it yet, and have never used a fireplace before.

I read somewhere that fireplaces draw the warm air out of the house and actually do more bad than good. Is that true at all?
No. They are for decoration only but can help keep the area around the fireplace warm. First off, make sure the chimney is clean. Secondly just think about after the fire is done. You need to keep the damper open to let the smoke and fumes escape. What that means is the heat from inside the house goes up up and away.

I actually block my fireplace in winters. Last thing I want to do is keep my chimney warm. Lol.
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Old 10-12-2012, 04:48 AM
 
3,430 posts, read 3,902,781 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marketa View Post
Does using a fireplace help warm a room? We have one, but haven't used it yet, and have never used a fireplace before.

I read somewhere that fireplaces draw the warm air out of the house and actually do more bad than good. Is that true at all?

Thanks again. I think a lot of people are interested in this topic these days.

I wish gas were available where we live...
It doesn't. It actually draws the heat out of your home and sends it up the chimney. If you were to install a fireplace insert or a wood burning stove, that would help a lot with heating. They are much more efficient than a fireplace.
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Old 10-12-2012, 06:28 AM
 
Location: USA East Coast
4,429 posts, read 10,311,835 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marketa View Post
Does using a fireplace help warm a room? We have one, but haven't used it yet, and have never used a fireplace before.

I read somewhere that fireplaces draw the warm air out of the house and actually do more bad than good. Is that true at all?

Thanks again. I think a lot of people are interested in this topic these days.

I wish gas were available where we live...
For true heat...a fireplace is really not so great. I had one and actually removed it - it was such a waste. I only really used once in a great while anyway.

A wood burning cast-iron stove, set against the wall of the largest room heats up then continues to heat the room all day/night. My brother has one and he burns very little oil (maybe 200 gallons per year).

I would be cautions of gas.....BOOOM!
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Old 10-12-2012, 07:00 AM
 
240 posts, read 534,910 times
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Originally Posted by marketa View Post
Thanks PacoMartin for such a detailed explanation... I have the same feeling, that electric is by far not cheap enough to justify replacing our current system.

GTMO, what is this "energy kinetics system 2000"? Is it like a furnace/boiler? Where did you get it and how much was it ?

Thanks
Energy Kinetics System 2000 - The High Efficiency Boiler, Commercial and Home Heating System and Hot Water Heater

I went from a 30 year old burnham boiler with indirect hot water that hardly worked. We would have to wait about 3 minutes for the hot water to start, and even then it would run out during our shower. The boiler struggled to get the house even to 65.

I spend 12K on the system 2000 last January. I'm know that I probably spent more than I needed to, but I am still very happy with the purchase. I got mine from Aiello (Air Conditioning Repair, Heating Repair, Plumbing and Electrical | Serving Connecticut | Aiello Home Services). The price included installation and removal of the old furnace.

I had been using about a gallon of oil a day in the summertime just for hot water, probably 3 gallons a day in the winter and still wasn't quite comfortable. I'm probably using about 1/4 gallon a day in the summer now and maybe a gallon a day in the winter. Keep in mind that these comparisons are between a 30 year old furnace and a brand new one, and also between a very cold and snowy winter and a mild one.

Last winter, we had the furnace kick on around 5:00 AM, the house would be up to temperature (68 degrees) around 5:30 and then my wife and I would each take showers which would last about 30 minutes total. We NEVER run out of hot water.
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Old 10-12-2012, 07:02 AM
 
240 posts, read 534,910 times
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If you have a fireplace, I would put a woodstove in there. If you aren't into the splitting and stacking then a pellet stove would also work.
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Old 02-08-2014, 08:56 PM
 
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Default heating cost

Im in Northern NJ I have 1300 sq ft house cape cod type hot water gas system purchase and installed new boiler weil.mclain ultra 165 with indirect domestic hot water keeping house between 72-69 all the time and my monthly bill is around 150 $
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Old 02-08-2014, 09:24 PM
 
4,712 posts, read 5,915,093 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gtmo View Post
Energy Kinetics System 2000 - The High Efficiency Boiler, Commercial and Home Heating System and Hot Water Heater

I went from a 30 year old burnham boiler with indirect hot water that hardly worked. We would have to wait about 3 minutes for the hot water to start, and even then it would run out during our shower. The boiler struggled to get the house even to 65.

I spend 12K on the system 2000 last January. I'm know that I probably spent more than I needed to, but I am still very happy with the purchase. I got mine from Aiello (Air Conditioning Repair, Heating Repair, Plumbing and Electrical | Serving Connecticut | Aiello Home Services). The price included installation and removal of the old furnace.

I had been using about a gallon of oil a day in the summertime just for hot water, probably 3 gallons a day in the winter and still wasn't quite comfortable. I'm probably using about 1/4 gallon a day in the summer now and maybe a gallon a day in the winter. Keep in mind that these comparisons are between a 30 year old furnace and a brand new one, and also between a very cold and snowy winter and a mild one.

Last winter, we had the furnace kick on around 5:00 AM, the house would be up to temperature (68 degrees) around 5:30 and then my wife and I would each take showers which would last about 30 minutes total. We NEVER run out of hot water.
Interesting - they have a 90% efficient oil boiler. Our boiler is 8 years old now and is somewhere around 81 or 82% efficient, but we're paying over double the heating costs for oil this winter as we did in our home in Avon that is about the same size and is also 8 years old. The Avon home had natural gas heat. We paid almost $1,000 for 4 1/2 weeks, vs never paying over $400 for a month of natural gas in Avon - and, our current home has an insulated finished basement, while our Avon home did not. (We haven't turned on the heat in the basement all winter and the temp hasn't gone below 59 that I've seen - so, it's pretty well insulated)
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Old 03-18-2014, 10:52 AM
 
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I heat my house with oil and it has cost us this winter over $3.000 and we can't do it any more maybe we would better change over to gas .I would like to know how much it would cost to heat the same house witch I used 700 gallons of oil if it was heated with gas
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Old 03-18-2014, 01:12 PM
 
4,712 posts, read 5,915,093 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meuzeca2 View Post
I heat my house with oil and it has cost us this winter over $3.000 and we can't do it any more maybe we would better change over to gas .I would like to know how much it would cost to heat the same house witch I used 700 gallons of oil if it was heated with gas
Well, natural gas is not available in all areas. You'd first need to check with your local gas provider - CNG, Yankee Gas, etc, to see if it's even available to you.

I know we'd convert to natural gas in a heartbeat if it were available to us, but it is not.
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