Blizzards and useless chimneys

DO we actually have any evidence that people are freezing to death in homes with non-functioning fireplaces? If not this thread would seem to be a wee bit detached from reality.

 

Evidence? Of course not. Also why did the writer bump his thread twice! All reports that I've seen say that people died in their cars.

Chimneys are very inefficient. Their use is also a serious risk to health if not maintained. Wood burners emit many toxic gases due to lack of oxygen if chimney not maintained causing inefficient burning. Fireplace needs a constant supply of flowing air which means that areas of the house not near the fire get cold. There is a reason why everyone used to huddle around the fireplace - the rest of the house was freezing due to the open chimneys to the outside air.

 

Depending purely on electricity can be risky ...my parents almost froze to death years ago when an ice storm knocked out electricity for days. In oklahoma we lost power for days during ice storm and we did fine--no fireplace but we had gas.. Our heater didn't work but our gas stove and gas water heater allowed us hot baths and our oven kept house warm.

Many people that had electric everything were in trouble.

 

This year we paid $150 to clean and inspect the chimney/fireplace. We knew the fireplace had issues because of its poor contruction...hadn't used it in years. Just needed confirmation and price to fix.

 

Like I said, - they didn't need to because it was not horribly cold in NE. They got tons of snow though.

 

We've gone off the grid... totally solar. We are "energy independent". We kept our GENERAC which works on gas too... just in case.

 

In our last house, we totally rebuilt and reinforced our old chimney and used a wood stove. It worked great. The rebuild was easy. They essentially took a lok balloon and inserted it down the chimney. Then they took special fireplace concrete and poured it around the balloon. It reinforced the old chimney while building a new, clean inside airway.

 

It's great to be self sufficient and security is a blessing. After living in OK many years and going thru ice storms and tornados...the two non negotiable requirements for any house we buy is a basement/cellar and access to gas. And...a working fireplace and a stack of wood is a huge bonus. It may not be efficient heat but it would keep us from freezing.

 

I was born and raised in NY. Due to the Dept of Defense I've lived in CA, PA, MO, FL, NH, MA, NJ, DE, GA, VA, Germany, Iraq, UK, Israel and more. Requirements for selecting a place to retire included NO SNOW. We came close. We're on the Texas coast and have only had six days of cold weather in over five years. Its not as weather warm and nice as the San Diego we left... but the tradeoff for no woke craziness was worth it.

 

There are way more trees in this picture than the other one you posted.

I doubt there is enough firewood in the highly populated areas to support everyone using their fireplaces, and what firewood is available is probably prohibitively expensive.

 

many of those may not be fireplaces, many could be old coal furnaces that were converted to gas

in all my life either gas or electricity goes down, never had both go at same time

we have a gas only heater in case electricity goes down as the main one uses electricity, and electric only if gas goes down

 

We have both. Solar and wood. We would never waste solar on heating though .. especially in winter!

 

That really isn't relevant. There are plenty of places even more built up that the OP pic, where wood burners are still preferred.

 

Washing machine drums make excellent firepits!

 

They're fireplaces, whether burning coal or wood. Gas doesn't smoke.

 

Keeping in mind you'd have trouble getting anything like the solar storage you need to heat a house .. especially in bad weather.

 

No they're not. Slow combustion fires are sealed, and cleaning is easy with the right tool.

 

If you're a fireplace user, you have your wood bought in during the summer, and stacked ready for winter. Even for 'emergency use', it's not difficult to put away a week's worth of wood and kindling. Takes up very little space.

 

That's massive overreach. How can they dictate something like that?

Would never work here. Every second home (and every home in some places) has a working fireplace.

 

We have emissions regulations here too, but fireplaces are grandfathered. They're exempt when pre-existing. New installs need to meet the standards ... which are very tight. The only fireplaces which meet the new standards are the double burners, which produce almost nothing in the way of particulates. Emissions from the first burn (the solid fuel) are themselves burned in a second chamber. Expensive, but worth it over time. If you have free wood, it'll still end up much cheaper than grid sourced heat. AND you can cook on them, plus heat the household water.

 

So what is your theory? That the people who live there are too stupid to use their fireplaces?

 

Many news reports state that people have died inside their homes .. specifically from either cold, or medical emergencies (no first responders due to roads).

 

my house had a coal burning furnace, was huge, was converted to gas, then later replaced with a gas furnace, the chimney is still there

 

Read the stories about how people are trying to stay warm inside.

Also, you're talking about OPEN fireplaces. Of course those are inefficient and leak particulates, but they're still better than no fireplace.

 

Exactly my point. So if you have a house with a fireplace, why would you not use it in emergencies?