Sixgun Symphony #62632 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 When I grew up almost all homes had a fireplace. Alot of apartments had fireplaces too. Most people kept enough seasoned firewood to get through a winter storm, it was expected that powerlines would go down for a few hours to a few days depending on the severity of the storm. These days most homes dont have a fireplace. Often zoning codes dont allow them in new construction, but this winter storm shows that to be foolish as people are dying from cold in their homes. IMO homeowners should look into getting a new fireplace, chimney installed if their house does not have one. Average cost of installing a masonry fireplace, chimney is $6,500 according to websites that came up from an internet search. About the price of a used car. https://www.fixr.com/costs/chimney-installation I think it is worth it. Ted Cruz could have bunkered in at home if he had a fireplace and two cords of seasoned firewood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Ron Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Howdy, A friend of mine built an addition room on his house including a fireplace. The fire was fed outside air and a system of tubes took air from the basement and heated it and the heated basement air came out into the new room. A fan could kick in to aid circulation. He found scrap and cut wood along the street, didnt buy much. The gas heat bill really dropped. And the room was big enuf for a pool table....sweet. Best CR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlands Bob #61228 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Would you rather be stuck in a house with no electricity during a record setting snow storm chopping firewood, trying to survive. Or boarding a flight to Cancun with the family. I know which one I would choose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Wood/coal fireplaces are not allowed in most developed urban areas anymore. Reason........ Air pollution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Sloe Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 Fireplaces are not that efficient. If I were going from scratch, I'd get a free standing stove. Just my thoughts, BS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Symphony #62632 Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 58 minutes ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said: Would you rather be stuck in a house with no electricity during a record setting snow storm chopping firewood, trying to survive. Or boarding a flight to Cancun with the family. I know which one I would choose. We used to get by with a roaring fire in the fireplace, we had antique kerosene lanterns, candles, and batteries too. I wish that Cruz had flown to Washington D.C. to do some arm twisting of bureaucrats at FEMA, Civil Defense, and Homeland Security to step up. It would have been better for Texas, better for the USA, and there would not have been the opportunity for the communists to swoop in as saviors of the abandoned little guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Symphony #62632 Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 22 minutes ago, Ace_of_Hearts said: Wood/coal fireplaces are not allowed in most developed urban areas anymore. Reason........ Air pollution. Contractors can't build them in new homes, but a homeowner can always remodel. That the rules require people to freeze to death in their own homes, those rules should be defied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Adding a fireplace / wood stove sounds good on the surface but in reality it is not all that great of an idea for most Texas homes. For those living in rental property or an apartment a stove / fireplace is not an option. First this was a once in a generation storm. Beside the cost of installing a stove/fireplace they have to be kept up. This is an ongoing reoccurring cost for something that will get almost zero usage most years. Having one also increases your homeowners insurance premiums. Firewood in this part of the country is expensive to say the least. $300 to $500 a cord is not uncommon. Next you have to store it. We have termites. A wood pile would attract not only them but Copperheads, Rattlesnakes, Scorpions, Black Widows, Brown Recluses, Wasps, Yellow Jackets, Fire Ants, and so on. Given the above, rushing out and having a stove/fireplace installed really doesn't make much sense. You would be better off investing in an arctic sleeping bad and some really good cold weather gear. It is sad that a few people died due to the cold. However those deaths need to be put into perspective. There are almost 30 million people in Texas and all but a handful were directly impacted by this storm yet the total storm related deaths in Texas are no more per capita than any other state that experiences a storm of similar magnitude. The real problem has been the lack of municipal water. Many areas are still on a boil water notice or have no water at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kloehr Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 A pot-belly stove from Ace Hardware, a (typical) chimney install kit, fireproof flooring and backing, plus a half cord of wood... Maybe $1,500. The fire will run hot, then cold, require refilling every few hours, be somewhat smoky but will keep you alive. Substitute a Droulet stove, beuatiful backing and floor, run even heat on a reload for 12 hours, enjoy the romantic fire, but up your ante to about $10,000. But if the goal is to survive a night or two or three with no regard to romance, I can beat all of that with a wimpy contractor-grade generator, a 1500 watt electric space heater, and an extension cord plus a filled gas can. Maybe $500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Creek,5759 Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 I like fireplaces. Sometimes wood is hard to get. Plus it is expensive . For around Five Thousand you can put in a outside generator that kicks in when you loose power. Gas, Diesel, L.P. or Natural Gas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Our Cape Cod cottage has a natural gas-fueled fireplace that has saved my butt several times when we lost power during the winter in our other house. Never in the 30+ years that we have had a cottage has our gas supply been interrupted; the fireplace is exceptionally efficient, and requires almost no maintenance. No wood supply issue. That being said, we have a wood burning fireplace in our other home (no gas available in the area). Atmosphere is great, but it struggles to keep our living room warm during a power failure in winter. That, added to the loss of power for our well pump, water heater and cooking appliances, sends us running to the Cape during power losses. I agree with the generator recommendation. We're having a whole house back-up generator installed at the cottage. LL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 4 hours ago, Sixgun Symphony #62632 said: Contractors can't build them in new homes, but a homeowner can always remodel. That the rules require people to freeze to death in their own homes, those rules should be defied. Put one in without a permit and you will be spending the money a second time when you sell it and have to tear it out. Your homeowners fire insurance will not readily hand over a check if it starts a chimney fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Symphony #62632 Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 22 minutes ago, Ace_of_Hearts said: Put one in without a permit and you will be spending the money a second time when you sell it and have to tear it out. Your homeowners fire insurance will not readily hand over a check if it starts a chimney fire. Check the zoning codes to make sure that it affects homeowners. If it does, change the law. That said, people are freezing to death in their own homes and some people think it is sad that they only had one life to give to their county council and HOA. There was one guy that expressed dissatisfaction that other people know how to sharpen tools, such self-reliance seems to be heresy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 We live in a section of metro Sacramento that has chronic power outages. Our solution: a living room natgas fireplace that runs without A/C power. Ditto for the water heater. A 12v inverter hooked to the truck can provide a modest amount of A/C to cycle the fridge or freezer. Candles are in plentiful stock in our house. I looked into a natgas A/C generator, but these are priced the same as ammunition... not feasible. I don't want the hassle of a gasoline generator, fuel rotation, need for regular exercise.. etc. Wood fireplaces are outlawed here in the PRK as well... so the nat gas unit works well and does not invite spiders or termites. My bro-in-law in metro Dallas says they are all electric.. no natgas in the house at all. He got lucky.. no broken pipes, finally got back to clean water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Do not overlook the increase in insurance cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish ike, SASS #43615 Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 It still takes a building permit to add a fireplace. And if they see smoke coming from a chimney in a neighborhood with modern homes someone could drop a dime and turn you in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 We have an efficient Pot Belly stove and an unlimited supply of wood on 10 acres. We haven't had to cut an oak yet (since 2008) for wood. Nature has downed sufficient quantities. Hubby has been burning wood since October. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assassin Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Woodstoves and inserts are legal to use if they are EPA approved in most areas. We heat exclusively with wood. I'm friends with a local tree trimmer and he keeps me supplied with logs. Last year we lost power for about 23 hours. We had heat, Belle cooked on the stove, and we had plenty of hot water. We always keep a 10-15 gallons of water on hand, we could even flush toilets. It's some work to cut up logs and split firewood. That's what I do on Sunday's during football season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconKC Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 27 minutes ago, Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 said: We have an efficient Pot Belly stove and an unlimited supply of wood on 10 acres. We haven't had to cut an oak yet (since 2008) for wood. Nature has downed sufficient quantities. Hubby has been burning wood since October. A beautiful room! And I love the old rotary phone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 25 minutes ago, DeaconKC said: A beautiful room! And I love the old rotary phone! Thank you! It's push button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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