what is the burning passion for having an open fire?

Andy From Sligo · 04-12-2019 10:42pm

Calibos wrote: »

Gas Central Heating only, except for the week either side of Christmas Day. For those 2 weeks we light an open coal/log/briquette fire for the Winter/Christmas/ Holiday atmosphere. When the rest of you feckers stop flying off on foreign holidays every year generating gigatonnes of CO2 emissions, I'll stop burning a few logs and a few lumps of coal for the week either side of Christmas Day.

hmm.. when i go out of my front door in the winter I get choked by, and cough and splutter my guts up from the nearby toxic fumes coming out of people homes chimneys TBH ..
haven't really noticed the plane fumes up in the sky to be honest

mad m · 04-12-2019 10:44pm

Back when I was a nipper we used to get the heel of batch bread stuck on a long fork, toasting over a red hot fire. Hands burning from heat of fire...

Nothing like batch bread off a fire. Pain in the arse when it falls off fork though into fire.....

Calhoun · 04-12-2019 10:51pm

Sometimes its hard for those who have to understand there are people out there who have not.

There are many reasons why people would be defensive of an open fire and one of the primary reasons especially for older generations with older houses is that it keeps the place warm.

branie2 · 04-12-2019 10:51pm

It keeps you warm on cold nights

Andy From Sligo · 04-12-2019 10:52pm

puppieperson1 wrote: »

until the ESB get their **** together they cant ban fires we had a 4 hour power cut the other day for no explained reason so without the fire we would have frozen and not been able to have a cup of tea so sort out the bad service before you ban the fire. Also it it all goes tits up a fire is a necessity for heat and cooking in the worst apocalypse scenario

if you have an coal open fire with a back boiler you cant run it without electric too can ye? -- you need pump running don't ye to circulate the water , or is it done by gravity?

careless sherpa · 04-12-2019 10:53pm

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

not many power-cuts to be honest these days. - a calor super-sir in the garage would be a good standby for those times tho if one were really paranoid about it

Not many power cuts at the moment but as demand surges and the pressure is applied that could change

Alf Veedersane · 04-12-2019 10:57pm

paw patrol wrote: »

I love my open fire and my firepit out the back.

That fella is a gobsh1te he is looking at some tiny aspect and ignoring the major causes of pollution.
His theory is just pissing in the wind , I'd suspect him to be a paid industry shill with horsesh1t like that

The major cause of air pollution is particulate matter from solid fuel burning. Wood and peat being the worst offenders.

Andy From Sligo · 04-12-2019 10:59pm

Andrewf20 wrote: »

Once you click this, theres no going back...

cannot deny that does look lovely ...

SEPT 23 1989 · 04-12-2019 11:00pm

Wouldn’t live in a house without an open fire

Gas heating is just heat no soul

careless sherpa · 04-12-2019 11:01pm

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

The major cause of air pollution is particulate matter from solid fuel burning. Wood and peat being the worst offenders.

Have you anything to back that claim up?

Ubbquittious · 04-12-2019 11:11pm

There is way more hate off a stove but the open fire is still nice.

Did anyone here ever try dipping a hot poker from the fire into a pint of stout? gives it lovely flavour

Alf Veedersane · 04-12-2019 11:12pm

careless sherpa wrote: »

Have you anything to back that claim up?

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0125-x

'Air Quality in Ireland' (though that doesn't reference specific solid fuels).

04-12-2019 11:15pm

Ah you can't bate a lovely fire

Andy From Sligo · 04-12-2019 11:25pm

careless sherpa wrote: »

Not many power cuts at the moment but as demand surges and the pressure is applied that could change

as electric cars become mainstream and everyone is plugging in to charge there could possibly be power-cuts? , not enough power in the system and all that

Snow Garden · 04-12-2019 11:32pm

I truly believe that a good open fire keeps you healthy. There is something about an open fire that lifts your immune system.

I couldn't live without one. We burn turf, logs and sometimes briquettes. Heaven.

We have a stove too which is very efficient but I often open the stove door to watch the fire.

HappyAsLarE · 04-12-2019 11:34pm

Has to be something selected in us through evolution.

SEPT 23 1989 · 04-12-2019 11:38pm

Snow Garden wrote: »

I truly believe that an good open fire keeps you healthy. There is something about an open fire that lifts your immune system.

I couldn't live without one. We burn turf, logs and sometimes briquettes. Heaven.

We have a stove too which is very efficient but I often open the stove door to watch the fire.

It’s primal

Setting a fire to keep your family warm is ingrained in the genes of a man

Andy From Sligo · 04-12-2019 11:50pm

Ubbquittious wrote: »

There is way more hate off a stove but the open fire is still nice.

Did anyone here ever try dipping a hot poker from the fire into a pint of stout? gives it lovely flavour

no, ... I cant say i have .......... or never will be any time soon haha

Andy From Sligo · 04-12-2019 11:51pm

bluewolf wrote: »

Ah you can't bate a lovely fire

.. beat

04-12-2019 11:57pm

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

.. beat

have to say it with the accent though

Andy From Sligo · 05-12-2019 12:04am

Snow Garden wrote: »

I truly believe that a good open fire keeps you healthy. There is something about an open fire that lifts your immune system.

not technically true i should think - fires can warm up rooms to 30'c or more. Normal room temperature is 20'c - more heat = more germs, they love heat , multiply more - sore throats , headaches , lethargic , fumes blowing back in the room when wind blowing in wrong direction , dangerous if chimney gets blocked, or catch fire to something nearby .. no I don't think open fires are good for your health TBH

Snow Garden wrote: »

I couldn't live without one. We burn turf, logs and sometimes briquettes. Heaven.

I'd go out on a limb here and say I bet you could live without one honestly

...

Snow Garden wrote: »

We have a stove too which is very efficient but I often open the stove door to watch the fire.

Andy From Sligo · 05-12-2019 12:06am

bluewolf wrote: »

have to say it with the accent though

indeed! ..

Strumms · 05-12-2019 12:11am

charlietheminxx wrote: »

I have a new build house and I am a little bit sad I'll never have an open fire again. They are just lovely and cosy and give a fantastic glow, always brilliant during power cuts too. There's something soothing about the flicking warm light and the heat and the gentle crackling.

They are great, I love the intense heat right beside you, the smell everything... don’t have one here but did where I lived before. The mess and morning cleanup I don’t miss but a real fire is nice. Again though, just standing up and flicking a switch here and place is roasting in 10 minutes...I’m not trading that...

Ubbquittious · 05-12-2019 12:11am

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

not technically true i should think - fires can warm up rooms to 30'c or more. Normal room temperature is 20'c - more heat = more germs, they love heat , multiply more - sore throats , headaches , lethargic , fumes blowing back in the room when wind blowing in wrong direction , dangerous if chimney gets blocked, or catch fire to something nearby .. no I don't think open fires are good for your health TBH

I'd go out on a limb here and say I bet you could live without one honestly ...

Central heating probably much better for keeping the germs alive if a room doesn't get a chance to cool down. 30 degrees wouln't be comfortable at all. Anything past 23 I find too hot

pgj2015 · 05-12-2019 12:12am

who is to stop you ripping out a stove and putting in an open fire in a new build? thats what i would do. an open fire is one of the perks of winter.

Andy From Sligo · 05-12-2019 12:19am

I have to just get my head around this all, and its late but here goes.

OK so burning in your back garden is illegal and banned, for reasons of like if you burn paper with ink on it , and plastics or would with paint on it or plastic bags, plastic milk bottles and other plastics that the chemicals are released into the atmosphere, not only bad for the environment but also a public anti-social nuisance .... but you can burn anything and everything in your fireplace (even heard of people trying to burn nappies - yuk!- and ashtray contents, and plastic carrier bags and plastic milk bottles and throw anything else into the fireplace when there is a roaring fire going and its OK ... and yet you can go outside and go walking and running but get lungfuls of all this coming out of the chimneys and its grand , its not anti-sociable at all and fine to burn this stuff in your fireplace yeah?

Right, next thing people burning trees and logs in an open fireplace. Trees are great natural absorbers of Co2 - why are people cutting them down to burn them for their home heating? or for a nice cosy fireplace - we need more trees not less surely

pgj2015 · 05-12-2019 12:23am

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I have to just get my head around this all, and its late but here goes.

OK so burning in your back garden is illegal and banned, for reasons of like if you burn paper with ink on it , and plastics or would with paint on it or plastic bags, plastic milk bottles and other plastics that the chemicals are released into the atmosphere, not only bad for the environment but also a public anti-social nuisance .... but you can burn anything and everything in your fireplace (even heard of people trying to burn nappies - yuk!- and ashtray contents, and plastic carrier bags and plastic milk bottles and throw anything else into the fireplace when there is a roaring fire going and its OK ... and yet you can go outside and go walking and running but get lungfuls of all this coming out of the chimneys and its grand , its not anti-sociable at all and fine to burn this stuff in your fireplace yeah?

Right, next thing people burning trees and logs in an open fireplace. Trees are great natural absorbers of Co2 - why are people cutting them down to burn them for their home heating? or for a nice cosy fireplace - we need more trees not less surely

most timber burned in open fires are trees that have fallen in storms, they aren't healthy trees cut down to burn.

Jeff2 · 05-12-2019 12:24am

Around here I think it's for burning stuff that goes in the bin so as not have higher bin bills.

It's like the smog in the 80s 90s.

Ubbquittious · 05-12-2019 12:26am

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

I have to just get my head around this all, and its late but here goes.

OK so burning in your back garden is illegal and banned, for reasons of like if you burn paper with ink on it , and plastics or would with paint on it or plastic bags, plastic milk bottles and other plastics that the chemicals are released into the atmosphere, not only bad for the environment but also a public anti-social nuisance .... but you can burn anything and everything in your fireplace (even heard of people trying to burn nappies - yuk!- and ashtray contents, and plastic carrier bags and plastic milk bottles and throw anything else into the fireplace when there is a roaring fire going and its OK ... and yet you can go outside and go walking and running but get lungfuls of all this coming out of the chimneys and its grand , its not anti-sociable at all and fine to burn this stuff in your fireplace yeah?

Right, next thing people burning trees and logs in an open fireplace. Trees are great natural absorbers of Co2 - why are people cutting them down to burn them for their home heating? or for a nice cosy fireplace - we need more trees not less surely

The antisocial thing is just a brainstorm by John Gormley back in the day. I wouldn't take too much notice. Burning plastic isn't great though. There's no point in trying to burn the contents of an ash tray because it's already been burn, trees don't live forever so will have to be cut and burned eventually. Most trees that get cut down here become MDF or some other craptastic material for making cheap furniture

Andy From Sligo · 05-12-2019 12:27am

Ubbquittious wrote: »

Central heating probably much better for keeping the germs alive if a room doesn't get a chance to cool down. 30 degrees wouln't be comfortable at all. Anything past 23 I find too hot

you have raised a pretty good observation there - central heating radiators dry the air , and then if your nasal passages dry out that's when you could come down with a sore throat or cold ... but would a roaring fire not be dry heat as well?

I remember when i were younger ad we had gas central heating my mum would put out a bowl of water in the rooms in the winter and that would evaporate quite quickly when the heating was on and then later on we come across some (I dont know whether they were china or plastic) tanks that used to hang on the central heating rads and you filled with water every day (we even put some smelly oils in it to make the room smell nice) and that would evaporate along with the heat from the rads to keep the room humidified.

Andy From Sligo · 05-12-2019 12:33am

pgj2015 wrote: »

most timber burned in open fires are trees that have fallen in storms, they aren't healthy trees cut down to burn.

oh good , am glad about that

Stovepipe · 05-12-2019 12:38am

Not true. I live in Wicklow and the wood you are burning is a mix of fallen and felled. There arent enough fallen trees on it's own to justify selling the usual half-ton bags.

Andy From Sligo · 05-12-2019 12:44am

anyone listen to Mairead Ronan (or whatever she calling herself these days) on today FM this morning, someone phoned in and said they were given a task of lighting an open fire and she had never lit a fire in her life and had been 'experimenting' and 'couldnt get it to take' so people were phoning in giving advice how to start a fire.

One bloke phoned in (i think he sold stoves or something) and said put firelighter on top of the coal not underneath it like others that make that mistake. I thought firelighters always went under the fuel?

There is a knack though to get a good fire started , i know when we used to have an open fire sometimes more than other times it was a bítch to start when getting it to light sometimes with it just going out and smoking the place out. I used thin sticks, firelighters and rolled up / scrunched up newspaper and sometimes it was having none of it!

MrMusician18 · 05-12-2019 12:46am

For those of you that don't have an open fire, Netflix has an 8hr alternative.

I don't think it's possible to put an open fire in a new build these days as it is not possible to get an A rating with one.

Neames · 05-12-2019 12:50am

Stovepipe wrote: »

He said it himself, too. he was being interviewed by Parkinson, I think, about the film and said that he "encouraged" himself, before stepping in front of the camera. It wasnt the kind of closed set that happens now and quite a few of the crew were there, so he felt the need to "stiffen" his resolve.

Which begs the question.

Did he think stoves were more efficient than the traditional open fire?

bodhrandude · 05-12-2019 12:53am

And when I come in cold and tired Its good to warm my bones beside the fire.

JohnnyFlash · 05-12-2019 12:53am

pgj2015 wrote: »

who is to stop you ripping out a stove and putting in an open fire in a new build? thats what i would do. an open fire is one of the perks of winter.

Might struggle due to the lack of a chimney.

mickdw · 05-12-2019 12:55am

Ya open chimneys mess up the whole idea around airtight homes.
Someone asked what is to stop you putting in an open fire after the h o use is complete. Well if you.build to current regs, you will have a good level of airtightness with a heat recovery mechanical ventilation system meaning the old style open vents in walls are a thing of the past.
Suddenly installing an open fire will completely do away with the efficiency provided by the heat recovery system and would likely require a wall vent or similar to allow fire to burn.
Basically, it's the last thing you should be thinking of doing if you have build a recent house.
That said, there are plenty options for stoves that can be used. Some of the double sided ones can give a very good fire effect in a large room.

pgj2015 · 05-12-2019 12:58am

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Might struggle due to the lack of a chimney.

Do stoves not need chimneys?

Charles Babbage · 05-12-2019 12:59am

Níl Aon Tinteán Mar Do Thinteán Féin

Andy From Sligo · 05-12-2019 1:09am

bodhrandude wrote: »

And when I come in cold and tired Its good to warm my bones beside the fire.

Breathe, breathe in the air .... get a lungful of carcinogenics and lung cancer right down there ...

heroics · 05-12-2019 1:20am

Mad_maxx wrote: »

i have a stove insert , maybe im just lacking but it takes a blooming long time to light the thing , usually fails the first time regardless of how many firelighters i use

We have a stove insert and it’s a breeze to light. 1-2 firefighters a couple of smaller sticks and off she goes. Throw a few more larger sticks in and close the bottom vent a bit. once there is a layer of red hot embers throw in larger logs and close the bottom vent completely.

05-12-2019 1:21am

It's in our dna. Hardwired into us from countless generations, going all the way back to the caves (ok, that's not long ago for Donegal folk, but for the rest of us we're talking a looooong way back).

With TV, phone, tablets etc, not many people today experience the true magic of sitting by an open fire.

Switch off the telly and the lights. Put your phone away. Sit alone and appreciate the warmth and glow of a real open fire for half an hour. Just sit and stare at it.

It's a beautiful thing. A connection to something mysterious, transient, fragile and yet powerful and everlasting. What is fire really? It's not easy to define. It's a process, an energy. Perhaps deep down in our psyche it reminds us of what we were and what we will one day become. Maybe it gives us hope. Matter/energy can neither be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another.

Also, you can't beat spitting into an open fire. :pac:

dartboardio · 05-12-2019 1:22am

Will never give up my open fire. **** anything but a real fire.

Rodin · 05-12-2019 1:22am

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

what is the burning passion for having an open fire?

I do like them yes but i havent had an open fire in the house for over 5 years now and dont personally miss it and got on with life without one grand and havent froze to death in the winter months.

hauling in filthy bloody dirty coal from the freezing cold outside , cleaning out the grate dust everywhere, having to get the chimney cleaned once or twice a year, uncontrollable, hard to light most times, filthy stinking smoke blowed back into the room if the wind is blowing the wrong way, most of the heat going up the chimney and sparks off the coal spitting out onto the floor potentially causing a house fire - no thanks to all of that I have opted for cleaner modern fuel which heats up the rads and hot water at the flick of a switch.

so anyway, yesterday the local radio station said on their facebook page:

"We Irish need to stop lighting fires in our homes.
That's according to Dr Michael O'Dwyer of the Environmental Protection Agency, who says cosy fires in the winter need to become a thing of the past.
He says he knows people may be angry and not even believe the facts on air pollution, but this is the situation.
Do you agree or not?
We'll be discussing on North West Today on Wednesday"

(I didnt hear the show this morning, maybe i can get it on podcast or something)

well needless to say do i even have to tell you some of the comments underneath .. but I will:

"I will freeze to death if I dont light a fire"

"Good luck with that, I am not going to stop lighting my fire"

"how am I gonna heat up my rads and water without my open fire?"

"you can take my land but you are not having my cosy fire!"

haha, some wonderful feedback LOL .

But it just shows you a bit of how people especially in rural northwest of Ireland are passionate of their open coal fires as a matter of life or death (why?) - sounds like if legislation went through to ban coal fires that an all out riot could break out - maybe even more of an issue than paying for water!

I'll stop lighting a fire when all fossil fuels are banned in the country, including power stations.

Ubbquittious · 05-12-2019 1:34am

Rodin wrote: »

I'll stop lighting a fire when all fossil fuels are banned in the country, including power stations.

If I'm still around by that time I'll still be burning turf and logs and drinking Beamish

Andy From Sligo · 05-12-2019 1:41am

Rodin wrote: »

I'll stop lighting a fire when all fossil fuels are banned in the country, including power stations.

I bet ye wont

Andy From Sligo · 05-12-2019 1:49am

aint the governments sissy's - look at this in this years (April) IT

"Government delays plans for smoky coal ban following legal threats from industry"

I'm surprised europe has not stepped in yet with a nationwide ban yet like they did with 100w light bulbs and other EU over-writing Irish rules

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/government-delays-plans-for-smoky-coal-ban-following-legal-threats-from-industry-1.3849945?fbclid=IwAR1bJ2yurUq-EJwqd3_vFOZSTgRNmDcAcBAjT7aHYZutQQzFeV8VIIxk0Ws

on the subject - what is the real reasons for people still using smokey coal these days? - I have heard stories of that smokey coal is 'hotter' and better for fireplaces with back boilers and that the smokeless coal doesn't heat up the water hot enough and that smokeless coal works out much more expensive than smokey coal

what's the score? maybe if everyone burnt smokeless coal there would be no issue of smog like conditions and sulphuric acid smell in the area and everyone would be happy

Stacksofwacks · 05-12-2019 1:52am

I think its an older folks thing those who grew up with the only source of heat being an open fire. My parents for example insist on an open fire, my poor father out killing himself chopping up wood. I wouldn't be bothered, electric heaters do grand for me, you can turn on and off when required.

J Mysterio · 05-12-2019 2:01am

Agricola wrote: »

The Murican's have their freedom and guns, the Irish have their coal fires!

Turf fires ..

what is the burning passion for having an open fire?

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