So during the last week of this bone chilling weather we decided to crank up the ole fireplace.Folks is it just our house? but there was ZERO warmth that we could tell.

Matter of fact the inside temp when I started the fire was 55 degrees. After opening the damper (of course) it went and maintained at 53 degrees with the fire going. My FIL has always said they are for the Christmas show, they look nice but not much else. Is there a way to run these things and actually get heat?

A free standing stove is the way to go.

I've got a pellet stove and it will heat up a large part of the house fairly well but you have to have electricity to operate the blower.

Mine gets so hot we have to wear shorts and T shirts when it's 30 degrees outside. Keep in mind this is after we have the fire going for over 4 hours. Those red coals put off some heat.

Our house has a steel insert and it puts out great warmth and heat. House was built in 1976.

The old ones, yes just show.

Two things that will make them work well, an outside air supply, and a blower fan to discharge hot air. Without an outside air supply they are trying to draw air from any place they can get it, doors and windows. And without a blower fan, all the heat is going right out the chimney.

Temperature in my LR on opposite wall from fireplace will be 74 degrees while the back of house is 65. Key is a good bed of coals.

gasoline

A friend sent this photo. His FP helps to keep everything warm. The coals is a key. Live Oak and Mesquite really produce good ones. Post Oak & Pecan, not so good..

Superduty nailed it.

You have to build a bed of coals. Plenty of heat then.

Looks great

Must be bad fireplace design, a good rumford fireplace design will put out a lot of heat when you get it going. A gas log set downstairs and a wood burner fireplace upstairs kept us around 60-62 during 3 days of no power. The only down side of the wood burner is getting up every hour or two to add logs or tend the fire. Going forward I'll either put in a stove insert or a gas heater insert in the wood burner in the bedroom.

Did the KY help too, asking for a friend

We have a big fireplace. It will heat the den area it sits in OK but that’s about it. Installing a blower would help considerably but I like it “au natural”.

We have an insert that heats the living room up pretty well that was put in when we built the house in 94. It will be replaced with an upgraded one with a stronger fan that is hopefully a lot quieter later this year. We never lost power during all of this, but having a roaring fire with a good bed of coals sure helped the heat pump out at -7°. I don't think the HP or the fireplace either one could have done it by their selves.

The reason for the upgrade is the refractory is just about burnt out and the cost of replacement refractory is almost the same cost as the insert. That and the lady of the house wants one.

Them fires make one frisky, ya know???

Doesn't hurt...

The morning it was -2, our fireplace maintained that part of the house at 62. After thirty six hours of no power the coldest it got was 58. And thats in the den and the bedroom, but we don't live in a large house, 1900 sq ft...

Adding an insert will help a bunch.

I have a free standing fire box. It will burn you out of the house.

An open-draft fireplace is only about 10-20% efficient. If you feed one enough good wood when it’s 0 degrees outside you’ll get some heat.

On the other hand, a wbfp with a quality sealed liner can be 80% efficient - they do cost some $$$$.
They don’t pull feed air supply from the room/house. They have a blower, and they have draft/air feed control to control burn rate.

Get you one of these. Had one in the Log cabin (2900 sq. ft.) over at the old ranchito and would warm the whole house. Pricey but awesome. DEFIANT WOOD BURNING STOVE

Oh SNAP

You need air to feed the fire, and guess where that ultimately comes from? So, all you get is infrared radiated heat until the bricks or rock heats up if you have the fireplace type that allows that.

Winner winner chicken dinner

We have a very large fireplace, burn 3’ wood, and it will heat our den ,1000sq ft,.
I just hate the smell it leaves in the room after burning 7 days straight.
But it does work.