Using open fire in lounge for heating - what do I need to buy?

Scubabe

Hi all,

Been looking on some fireplace accessory websites tonight, we've just moved to a house with an open fire in the lounge and I want to get myself all sorted - never had a fireplace before! Looking forward to the cosy winter evenings with a glass of red wine and a crackling fire

We know we need to have the chimney swept, I'm calling a few places next week for prices and to arrange someone to come and do it for us.

Now I need to think about accessories, can anyone tell me what I need?
I'm thinking : fire guard (we have labradors, including a young puppy, so this is very important), a set of fireplace tools (you know, the pokers and things).
Unsure what else I need...
- a grate - is this the bit the logs sit on?
- an ashpan - I take it this sits under the grate and collects the ash so it's easy to chuck after the fire has gone out?
- a fret - what is one of these and why would I need it?
- fire dogs - what on earth are these and what are they used for?

Can anyone suggest a good place in the Reading/Oxford/Swindon area to buy this stuff from, or a good online retailer? I do need to buy budget items, got a few big bills this month so certainly not looking to splurge... £80 absolute max for everything.

Any/all advice gratefully received, bit of a fireplace newbie here!!!

Magentasue

We had fireplaces in our last house and had the following:

grate and ashpan (as you describe)
poker
basket for the logs
dustpan and brush (didn't bother with a special set)

We also had some tong like grabbers to pick up anything that fell out of the fire. A rug is handy for any sparks that will burn the carpet although a fire guard will stop that. We already had a fret on the fireplace (to stop the logs rolling off the grate) but you will need something if you don't have one because the logs move as they burn.

Can't think of anything else. The routine is to lay your fire with newspaper, kindling (sticks) and logs on the grate. The ash falls into the ashpan and you have to empty that on to your compost heap in the morning. Not every day if you have a reasonable size pan and only light it for a few hours.

The dogs will be sensible - they have an innate respect for fire but the fireguard is good for when the fire is unattended especially when you go to bed.

Think about where you will store a load of logs in the garden or shed. Then think about carrying them in when it's raining or cold. You need something to carry them in and something to sit by the fire to hold them. These may or may not be the same thing. We brought our in in a trug, loaded the basket and then loaded the trug again ready to run in next tim. A basket of logs is heavy and awkward to carry!

In our new house, we have a 50s fireplace with a gas fire in front. When we get round to this room, an open fire is definitely on my wanted list.

Scubabe

Thanks so much for the fast reply! We grew up with a woodburning stove in the kitchen, so I've earned my stripes for lighting fires, but an open fire is going to be such a novelty!

Okay, so the fret stands up higher than the grate at the front, is that right? Any idea if I can get a grate and fret built in together? That would make sense to me?

We're lucky in that we live in a huge old farmhouse and we have a boot room just off the utility which is absolutely perfect for log store, so we'll chuck all the wood there for now. Will eventually get a nice wood basket for the lounge room, but no need to race out and buy that now. I'm now going to have to google Trug and figure out what on earth one of those is

Anyone game to answer the fire dog question?

GaryS

Highly recommend a visit to "Country Metal Crafts", located on the A4 just west of Theale.
Junction 12 of the M4.

Chap called Bernie certainly knows his stuff regarding all aspects of fireplaces.
He can advised you on what you will need to get.

square_bear

Also, you can try Chivers in Devizes.
They have got the stuff you need.

Poppycat

You wont get much heat from a open fire we have one in living room its worse than useless, very little heat gets back into the room and this is a modern fireplace. We had trouble with smoke getting in on occasions

Your better of with a wood/coal burning stove far more efficient we have one in dining room

You also get a lot of muck from burning coal especially. A stove whilst can burn both coal and wood, is much cleaner, most of the ash is falls into a tray and these less because a stove is more efficient

Magentasue

Yes, you might get grate and fret together. I think firedogs are an alternative to the grate - not sure. A trug something to carry stuff, the one I was talking about is a flexible plastic bucket like this:


If you buy a load of logs, you can stack them in the garden and then bring in some to keep in your boot room. If you have a huge farmhousey hearth, an evening's logs can be stacked there.

kez1234

we have 3 coal fires and i love them when we moved to our home we had to start from scratch has they had all been boarded up, i found luckily 3 old rusty fire surrounds in the paper my oh collected them and took them to be sandblasted it saved us a fortune, i then went to a fireplace shop and luckily again we were sold a showroom hearth and grate for 50 pound my oh is cheeky lol, look in papers and online ads, or try a showroom they may sell cheaper if there are some scratches argos do some nice companion sets too.

good luck with it, it looks beautiful with the xmas tree next to it too lol

Magentasue

Just cross posted with poppycat - our fire threw out plenty of heat!

Poppycat

We have one of those Victorian look like fires with cast iron surround and tiled around edges, looks lovely but thats about it

We tried all sorts, logs, coal, even those logs that smell of paraffin, but log burner is great, but it cost over 2k to install with chimney lining

border_collie

Poppycat is right, all the heat (and money) is wasted up the chimney in an open fire.

Stoves are the best answer and much warmer and cleaner