Be Excellent To Each Other

In new place in the living room there is an open fire. I need a knowledge dump.

1) How do I know the chimney won't catch fire without trying it?

2) Cheaper than using the central heating?

3) When do you add coal

4) Best way of extinguishing them

Get it swept, or get the landlord to do it. An unswept chimney is decidedly bad for your health.

I have no specific answers to your questions, but my advice is to get it swept before you use it, and make sure you have a fire guard for when you're not in the room.
I like to make them with a layer of coal on the bottom, then newspaper, kindling / firelighters, then logs. Keep adding coal once the logs have burnt out.
Smokeless coal is generally not as good as normal coal, but you might be in an area where you're not allowed to use normal coal. I am. I ignore it. If you've got the space, buy wood and coal in bulk, as petrol stations and garden centres charge a fucking fortune.

I dunno about 1 and 2, but for 3, coal is your slow burning fuel. You want a layer of coal at the bottom, then you want to start the fire with paper and kindling, then shot some of those small bits of log on that are about the size of a Mars bar. Then maybe some slightly larger wood. This will eventually cause the coal to catch - make sure you poke it and give it some air. Then you can add more coal when the initial lot starts dying out.

As for extinguishing it, it's usually best to just let it burn out. Plan ahead and don't start a mega blaze if you're going out in an hour. Don't pour water on it unless you want a mess. Make sure you get rid of all the ash and remains the next day when it's properly cool before starting a new fire, else the mess will pile up and make starting a new fire impossible.

First thing to check is with a Smoke bomb to check how good the draw on the chimney is and that it isn't blocked, Make sure that the room is sealed from the rest of the house or you could end up with a really smokey house if it is obstructed.

Also poke your head in to see if the chimney needs a clean, in fact it may be a good idea to get a professional chimney cleaner in anyhow as they not only clean them but inspect them to make sure they are fit for use, you will even get a certificate

With regards to getting the fire going, i am sure some of the crazy Pyromaniacs on this board will help you out better than i could...

<cue Zardoz>

I suppose the only way you're going to find out about it being cheaper than central heating is by buying fuel and using it for a month or so. They certainly do a fucking good job of warming the room up, mind.

Don't waste your money on fire lighters either. Just stock up on the local free newspaper and you'll never run out of adequate fire starting material. Fires are really easy to start if you know what you're doing and take the time to construct it properly and nurse it through the early stages. I've seen people (morons) dump a whole box of firelighters on top of coal and just keep adding more until it eventually catches. This is extremely inefficient and stupid. Don't be afraid to get your face in there and give it a good blow. Or even better, get one of those old fashioned air contraptions.

Also remember that heat rises and flames burn UP. Don't be one of those people who holds matches vertically and wonders why they keep going out.

I fucking love starting fires, me.

o/


Don't pour water on it unless the chimney is on fire.

Make a box stove! open fires are a nightmare to light, they smoke up the room seemingly at will and (if you dont burn hyper expensive kiln dried wood) you wont have to worry about putting it out, it does that itself I love my stove xox

Use the radiator.

Bloody cavemen

Rented house. Amusingly, we are currently in control of three properties. Next door have a funny small Japanese car with scissor doors, and they spend ages playing MW3.

I'll keep the above in mind, and set about seeing what will work, although I'll probably just light one soon anyway, and see what happens. It's probably perfectly safe.

If you want a really big fire it'll set you back at least five humanity.

You'd save more money and have a warmer room by blocking the chimneys off.
An open fire heats one room, poorly, smokily and not cheaply.

It's pretty cheap if you get all your wood for free.

but for coal.

Grim... do you have a coal mine?

No - we have massive amounts from when we used to have a traction engine. Steam engine shows would give you free coal for turning up - way more than you needed - so we'd trailer it up and bring it home.

Grim... owns a diamond mine. The coal is just a by-product of the mining process.

Is that where he dug you up Mimi?


Sweet Christ, i can't believe i just typed that cheese

I disagree with 'poorly'. Every open fire I've experienced has been much more effective than a gas fire or radiators for example. They're ridiculously hot. You must be pish at burning stuff!

My fire's much burnier than yours! I cook boiling hot curry on it and the rariest meat in the world!

Most gas fires aren't very efficient, but with a modern gas boiler heating system (upto 95% efficient when up and running at temperature depending on the model) with good insulation in the house you will be loosing a lot less energy from the house than with a open fire, yes you feel alot of heat radiating from the fire but the vast majority of the useful heat energy from the burning fire will be lost straight up the chimney.

Quote:

With fireplaces, you really can’t win: if you burn a hot fire, you lose most of the heat up the chimney. If you burn a slow fire, you get very little heat, and lots of pollution.

Yep, I do! I also fitted a stove (in my rented house) which was a huge improvement over the open fire. And I use it daily. However, Mali is talking about buying coal and burning it in an open fire, and (I guess) turning off his GCH. That, I believe, won't be very satisfactory.

Agreed, and this is why people now use central heating and keep open fires for occasional novelty use. Apart from being far less hassle, you simply get more heat for your money.

Are we talking about heating the living room or heating the entire house here?

Living room.

No. I wish to sit in my chair, in front of a fire with a glass of brandy. I'm not putting a dressing gown on backwards.

4) Just leave it until it dies out? Stop putting more coal on it!

And don't spill your brandy on it, either.

the house I grew up in has an open fireplace but we never used coal, only logs of wood, brothers house ditto
never even heard of people using coal for anything other then choochoo trains

I agree get the chimney swept (we had a beam catch fire once) and get a firescreen and never throw water on it and never buy a blanket with sleeves

1) Problem solved.

2) Yes. You're in The North now, get digging.

3) After you throw on the half-empty deodorant can.

4) Piss on it.

Been using the fire this evening. The room isn't full of smoke and it is nice.

Thats good news MaliA. In other fire related news: Last night I broke my stove by running it too hot on paper. The sides bent right in, about 2 inches both sides and were glowing red to yellow, this was cool of course. So today I put a car scissor jack inside it, bent it back into shape and welded some bits of box section steel to the inside of it, all better

Hurrah!

Hurrah!

Hurrah!

Hurrah!

Hurrah!

Hurrah!

Hurrah!



Oh... "fire"? sorry.

Bill and Tess!