Open fire

SEE

In my back room I have a 16" open fire. It is fitted with one of those all night burner type grates, but what always confuses me is when people go on about dampeners. I don't have one, I just have a fondant? firebrick back which slopes forward slightly. Does this mean I lose all my heat up the chimney and if I do what I can do to change it?

This is the set up
http://www.real-fire.co.uk/solid-fuel-clay-fireback-16-167-p.asp

And the fire
http://www.real-fire.co.uk/star-black-all-night-burner-16-165-p.asp

A._Badger

In theory an open fire will lose a lot of heat up the chimney. In practice, that sloping firebrick will heat up and radiate heat into your room.

The only way to be sure is try it and see but my experience of open fires suggests you might be pleasantly surprised.

SEE

A._Badger wrote: »

In theory an open fire will lose a lot of heat up the chimney. In practice, that sloping firebrick will heat up and radiate heat into your room.

The only way to be sure is try it and see but my experience of open fires suggests you might be pleasantly surprised.

I was wondering if I could get a small piece of vermiculite board and rest it on the lintel in the opening leaving just a 4 inch gap at the back for smoke and air to escape, or if that would be dangerous and should just be fully open.

muckybutt

SEE wrote: »

I was wondering if I could get a small piece of vermiculite board and rest it on the lintel in the opening leaving just a 4 inch gap at the back for smoke and air to escape, or if that would be dangerous and should just be fully open.

BIG NO NO ! doing something like that is a huge risk and one I would never advise doing, if the board for any reason fails then quite likely it could block the chimney all together

As badger says you will probably be surprised how much heat is thrown into the room.

Our other fire in the dining room is an open fire but within the original range so the cast iron is a bit like a storage rad, however before I got the range working again it was basically just an open fire, it heats the room up well to be honest - no damper in there and if i'm really honest not many open fires have them, out of all the ones I sweep I can only think of three that have them.

kkennedy

SEE wrote: »

In my back room I have a 16" open fire. It is fitted with one of those all night burner type grates, but what always confuses me is when people go on about dampeners. I don't have one, I just have a fondant? firebrick back which slopes forward slightly. Does this mean I lose all my heat up the chimney and if I do what I can do to change it?

This is the set up
http://www.real-fire.co.uk/solid-fuel-clay-fireback-16-167-p.asp

And the fire
http://www.real-fire.co.uk/star-black-all-night-burner-16-165-p.asp

can i ask what is the difference with a all night grate and a normal grate we have a open fire and a grate like this one http://www.real-fire.co.uk/classic-fire-set-27-p.asp and feel we dont get much heat from our fire love my open fire but heat wise not that great.

muckybutt

A normal dog grate such as yours is ...shall we say more open than an overnight grate.

Overnight grates are sealed to the sides and the bottom ash cover has a lever on it to regulate the amount of air the bottom gets through it, thus allowing you to regulate burning easier and overnight.

SEE

kkennedy wrote: »

can i ask what is the difference with a all night grate and a normal grate we have a open fire and a grate like this one http://www.real-fire.co.uk/classic-fire-set-27-p.asp and feel we dont get much heat from our fire love my open fire but heat wise not that great.

My fire burns all night when I shut the bottom air vent. I think yours is open so just burns away with little heat.

grahamc2003

SEE wrote: »

In my back room I have a 16" open fire. It is fitted with one of those all night burner type grates, but what always confuses me is when people go on about dampeners. I don't have one, I just have a fondant? firebrick back which slopes forward slightly. Does this mean I lose all my heat up the chimney and if I do what I can do to change it?

This is the set up
http://www.real-fire.co.uk/solid-fuel-clay-fireback-16-167-p.asp

And the fire
http://www.real-fire.co.uk/star-black-all-night-burner-16-165-p.asp

You'll certainly lose a hell of a lot off heat up your chimney with any sort of open fire where the air supply can't be fully controlled.

The overnight grate you linked to just controls the air supplied to the fuel, so it will burn at a lower temperature, and the gas will be released at a lower rate from the fuel, hence the possibility of it lasting the night.

What won't be controlled with that grate is the (warm) air from the room simply being sucked up the chimney, losing lots of heat - the air in the room will be replaced with air sucked in from outside.

Even so, the heat radiated will mean the room is warm the next morning - the 'problem', if it is a problem, is the inefficiency in doing so - i.e. you'll burn a lot of fuel for the useful net heat you get. The other more real problem is that you'll have lots of soot deposited in your chimney.

To lose less heat up the chimney means controlling the total air supply, and I think the only way to do that is by fitting those glass 'windows' in front of the fire to seal it off. While making it more efficient, that would also lose most of the charm too, imo. Other option is to fit a stove. While stoves can be really great, I'm not sure even they capture the ambiance of a roaring coal fire.

SEE

grahamc2003 wrote: »

You'll certainly lose a hell of a lot off heat up your chimney with any sort of open fire where the air supply can't be fully controlled.

The overnight grate you linked to just controls the air supplied to the fuel, so it will burn at a lower temperature, and the gas will be released at a lower rate from the fuel, hence the possibility of it lasting the night.

What won't be controlled with that grate is the (warm) air from the room simply being sucked up the chimney, losing lots of heat - the air in the room will be replaced with air sucked in from outside.

Even so, the heat radiated will mean the room is warm the next morning - the 'problem', if it is a problem, is the inefficiency in doing so - i.e. you'll burn a lot of fuel for the useful net heat you get. The other more real problem is that you'll have lots of soot deposited in your chimney.

To lose less heat up the chimney means controlling the total air supply, and I think the only way to do that is by fitting those glass 'windows' in front of the fire to seal it off. While making it more efficient, that would also lose most of the charm too, imo. Other option is to fit a stove. While stoves can be really great, I'm not sure even they capture the ambiance of a roaring coal fire.

I was thinking of another stove, but I've never found one to fit a 16 inch opening and I don't want to lose my original 1920's tiles. They have lovely rounded edges that form the fireplace opening and the corner tiles look pleated to form the correct angle. I really like original fittings

A._Badger

SEE wrote: »

I was thinking of another stove, but I've never found one to fit a 16 inch opening and I don't want to lose my original 1920's tiles. They have lovely rounded edges that form the fireplace opening and the corner tiles look pleated to form the correct angle. I really like original fittings

In addition to graham2003's point about ambience,. may I add that you'd need to waste a lot of heat up your chimney to cover the huge cost of a stove and its installation.

Gloomendoom

grahamc2003 wrote: »

To lose less heat up the chimney means controlling the total air supply, and I think the only way to do that is by fitting those glass 'windows' in front of the fire to seal it off. While making it more efficient, that would also lose most of the charm too, imo. Other option is to fit a stove. While stoves can be really great, I'm not sure even they capture the ambiance of a roaring coal fire.

I bet that glass screen would drastically cut th radiated
heat. We notice the difference just with a mesh fireguard.