ᐅ Is having a fireplace still practical in new construction homes today – any experiences?
Created on: 20 Mar 2018 23:34
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PSK
Hello!
My wife and I are currently in the planning phase for our single-family home and are wondering whether a fireplace still makes sense today, although we would like to have one.
To give some background: we both grew up with a fireplace and have always found it very appealing. There is just something special about a fire, and the “pleasant warmth” is great. For that reason, we always intended to install a traditional wood-burning fireplace with an open flame in our house. Specifically, we would like a real eye-catcher integrated into a wall, visible from two or three sides.
Almost every homebuilder we spoke to said that this no longer makes economic sense in modern houses and is more likely to cause overheating. However, it would be possible with all of them. Even a fireplace installation company advised against it. We are currently planning a system with an air-to-water heat pump and underfloor heating throughout the house (about 155m² (1,670 sq ft)), built to KFW55 standard (timber frame). A wall-integrated fireplace would have around 8 kW output, which is far too much. If at all, they recommend installing only a small freestanding fireplace with a maximum of 2-3 kW if we absolutely want one. But we don’t like those due to their size.
Thinking it over, I see the point of these arguments. In this setup, you have a consistent indoor temperature of about 21°C (70°F). You don’t really need a fireplace anymore. The companies estimate heating costs of around 500 euros. A cubic meter of firewood costs roughly 80 euros if you buy it prepared. So, potential cost savings are almost zero. And the chimney along with the fireplace and all the accessories would cost about 8,000 to 10,000 euros. Visually, it would also never quite look how we imagine it. Without a fireplace, we wouldn’t have an intrusive edge in the rooms and could position the doors more freely.
We also had a striking experience: about a year ago, we visited friends who had recently built a house and also have a fireplace. They proudly lit it even though it was already 22°C (72°F) inside, thanks to house automation and pellet heating. Although they barely put any wood in—so the fire was mostly smoldering—the fireplace kept running at full power. After two hours, the temperature reached around 26°C (79°F), and we were sitting in T-shirts (with -10°C (14°F) outside) in the living room. Another hour later, at 29°C (84°F), just before overheating, the friends opened the windows. The takeaway: expensive heat, a poor fire that I then effectively blew out the window!
What are your experiences with or opinions on fireplaces in modern homes?
Thanks in advance!
Best regards
Steffen
My wife and I are currently in the planning phase for our single-family home and are wondering whether a fireplace still makes sense today, although we would like to have one.
To give some background: we both grew up with a fireplace and have always found it very appealing. There is just something special about a fire, and the “pleasant warmth” is great. For that reason, we always intended to install a traditional wood-burning fireplace with an open flame in our house. Specifically, we would like a real eye-catcher integrated into a wall, visible from two or three sides.
Almost every homebuilder we spoke to said that this no longer makes economic sense in modern houses and is more likely to cause overheating. However, it would be possible with all of them. Even a fireplace installation company advised against it. We are currently planning a system with an air-to-water heat pump and underfloor heating throughout the house (about 155m² (1,670 sq ft)), built to KFW55 standard (timber frame). A wall-integrated fireplace would have around 8 kW output, which is far too much. If at all, they recommend installing only a small freestanding fireplace with a maximum of 2-3 kW if we absolutely want one. But we don’t like those due to their size.
Thinking it over, I see the point of these arguments. In this setup, you have a consistent indoor temperature of about 21°C (70°F). You don’t really need a fireplace anymore. The companies estimate heating costs of around 500 euros. A cubic meter of firewood costs roughly 80 euros if you buy it prepared. So, potential cost savings are almost zero. And the chimney along with the fireplace and all the accessories would cost about 8,000 to 10,000 euros. Visually, it would also never quite look how we imagine it. Without a fireplace, we wouldn’t have an intrusive edge in the rooms and could position the doors more freely.
We also had a striking experience: about a year ago, we visited friends who had recently built a house and also have a fireplace. They proudly lit it even though it was already 22°C (72°F) inside, thanks to house automation and pellet heating. Although they barely put any wood in—so the fire was mostly smoldering—the fireplace kept running at full power. After two hours, the temperature reached around 26°C (79°F), and we were sitting in T-shirts (with -10°C (14°F) outside) in the living room. Another hour later, at 29°C (84°F), just before overheating, the friends opened the windows. The takeaway: expensive heat, a poor fire that I then effectively blew out the window!
What are your experiences with or opinions on fireplaces in modern homes?
Thanks in advance!
Best regards
Steffen
S
Silent01021 Mar 2018 11:14We also have a fireplace. It is purely a luxury feature; we don’t actually need it. We grew up with a fireplace fire, and for us, it’s a symbol of coziness during winter...
... oh, and it is an alternative heat source in case there’s no gas supply during a zombie apocalypse.
... oh, and it is an alternative heat source in case there’s no gas supply during a zombie apocalypse.
We have only installed the chimney for now, and hopefully next year we will add the stove/fireplace as well. We chose this because we love the atmosphere and want to relieve the underfloor heating during sudden cold snaps. The underfloor heating is quite slow to respond, and at the start of winter we often had 1–3 days when we had to bundle up and longed for a fire.
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Steffen8021 Mar 2018 12:13Phew... am I the only one here without any issues despite having a 7kW fireplace? We thought it would only be used occasionally, but currently (down to -10 degrees Celsius (14°F)) it’s almost daily—once in the morning and once in the evening. The heating system is, of course, properly programmed and turned down accordingly (not heating first and then turning the fireplace on). Over the past 3 months, we’ve actually burned 3 cubic meters of wood. The atmosphere and warmth are great! No problems with overheating. In the morning (around 6:30 a.m.) the living room is about 20–21 degrees Celsius (68–70°F). One load then raises the temperature to 24 degrees Celsius (75°F), which it maintains until midday. The underfloor heating supports this, but independently of the room air. The underfloor heating only maintains a temperature in the screed of at least 25 degrees Celsius (77°F), and only between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. to keep the floors warm. This works perfectly!
What unfortunately does not work at all is distributing the heat in the house via the controlled mechanical ventilation system. Anyone who says otherwise is simply wrong.
What unfortunately does not work at all is distributing the heat in the house via the controlled mechanical ventilation system. Anyone who says otherwise is simply wrong.
Then you haven’t understood the principle of controlled residential ventilation. It does not extract air from the living room and blow it directly into the bathroom; rather, it draws the, for example, 24°C (75°F) warm air from the living room and uses this energy to preheat the air for the bathroom. So, the air is distributed indirectly.
About chopping wood: yes, it’s enjoyable. I also like to split a few cubic meters now and then. However, it does take quite some time. Together with the other drawbacks I perceive, I also think it’s not really cost-effective.
If I absolutely wanted a fire in the living room, I would probably choose a pellet stove.
About chopping wood: yes, it’s enjoyable. I also like to split a few cubic meters now and then. However, it does take quite some time. Together with the other drawbacks I perceive, I also think it’s not really cost-effective.
If I absolutely wanted a fire in the living room, I would probably choose a pellet stove.
Steffen80 schrieb:
Phew… am I the only one here with no problems despite having a 7kW stove? ... Nope, we don’t either.
It’s “only” 5kW in our KfW 70 house, but it’s on every weekend from autumn, sometimes during the week as well.
However, we don’t have a 20m² (215 sq ft) living room, but an open-plan living area. So the stove heat benefits almost the entire ground floor as well as part of the upper floor.
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