Using an original 1930s fireplace for an open fire

[Palomb]

We have in the process of buying an 1930s house with all original features intact - including the tiled fireplaces. Ideally we were hoping to be able to have a log burner but to do that we'd have to rip out one of the fireplaces which I don't think I could bring myself to do.

What would we need to do it use the fireplace? I know we'd need to have the chimney swept but what do we burn? Wood Or coal? What happens when you want to go to be but the fire is still smouldering? Do you just leave it and trip off to bed or douse it with water? Are there any insurance implications?

I've only ever lived in new house. Can you tell? !

It's like this. It isn't the worlds most attractive fireplace, that is true but it's part of the house and I would like to keep it if possible.

We had that fireplace!! Almost exactly. It was in a 20s/30s house and I absolutely loved it, it was such a solid and beautiful thing and very reliable.

It was in our huge kitchen and we had no flooring and ds was still a baby - we were poor!

So concrete floor and concrete fireplace, but it kept us warm, and it felt safe. I live in a Victorian house now and would not like to use the fireplace here, though the previous owners did - mainly because it feels so much more flimsy and rickety here.

30s houses were often built very solidly.

I think it's wonderful that you want to keep it original. I wish more people did.

You can burn what you like btw - I used to buy logs sometimes or coal if I felt like it. We did have central heating too though (I made the landlord install it when we moved in) but the fire worked very well.

Can you run central heating from a log burner then?! I can see I am going to have to do some more research! Ditzy thank you I love the sound of your keys old things are wonderful aren't they.

Queen I wish people did too. We've seen loads of houses which have had all the original features removed and it is so sad to see.

yes, but more often a Multifuel, as there is much more energy in coal-derived fuels than in the same volume of wood.

I and a relation have used them, but remember a gas boiler might be anything from about 8kW to 40kW power. A typical modern house might need 10-15kW of power to heat it, and a large, old house might need 30kW or more. My cottage was fairly small, but my relation has a really big multifuel, liker a range, and it is hardly enough to heat her (older, detached) house. I have heard her say she'd rather have spent the money on a gas boiler. The manufacturer's brochure should say the maximum output, but I don't know how to calculate how often you need to throw logs or shovel coal in.

Well it is old and detached and I like my creature comforts so maybe we'll stick to the burner for purely decorative purposes