In this day and age with central heating has anybody seen a real coal or log fire?

Question

which would you prefer,i find it diffucult toasting bread on a radiator

Answer 1

Oh yes .... we had a black stove on the side of the fire what my mum cooked on for years , and she would clean up the actual fire tray with black shoe polish , I can remember when you used to have shredded toast cos the toasting fork had made a mess of the bread ha ha ......... also having to run off the water cos it would get to hot and would sound like thunder rumbling ..... rest of the house was blinking freezing though ...ahhhhhhhhhh happy dayssssssss

Answer 2

Many times. My dad and I had a log stove. We had a furnace, but it only really was good enough to heat certain parts of the home.. and so we had a nice log stove (not fireplace) in the living room... We even cooked stuff on/in it sometimes.. (Especially if the power went out!)

I also have known other people who had wood furnaces as their only source of heat in their homes.

I find the whole gas heat a lot easier to deal with because you don't have to haul/chop wood and clean up ashes, etc.. BUT I really do like the feel of a nice fire.

As for toasting bread on a radiator.. Yah.. sounds tough :) hehe.

Answer 3

We grew up with coal furnaces. They were dirty, messed up the walls, curtains, draperies etc with soot. We had to shovel coal daily and that was another dirty job.
Log fires in wood burning stoves are also messy. the ashes must be dumped or removed often and even if the odor from burning wood smells nice it is a problem for people with respiratory issues.
I don't miss either. And when I'm cooking out on my Weber charcoal grill I can toast the bread or buns.

Answer 4

I have a wood stove in my basement and I use it every winter. One winter it was the only heat we had. There was a major snow storm that left us without power for 4 days. We slept by the fireplace - me, my husband and our dog - to stay warm and since it had a flat top, we were able to cook on it too. I gather wood during the summer from neighbors who are cutting down trees and I roll newspaper logs. This will usually last us through the winter for a supplemental heating source.

Answer 5

I reckon it would be even more difficult trying to grill some sausages on the radiator, but on the other hand, it´s difficult to dry clothes over the fire. We regularly grill meat over a wood fire on our allotment, in summer as well as in winter. Coals from fruit wood, such as hazel, cherry, vine make for lovely warm evenings around the fire.

Answer 6

coal fires are dirty and we contained them in furnaces in the cellars in Chicago, coal burns hot and is OK for outside fire pit. Log fires and fireplaces burn the best and create the best heat and are the cheapest and heat up the fastest. continually cleaning up the barks and debris, but I like it here in Oregon. I also have back up heat of diesel and forced air along with the fire logs (wood)

Answer 7

We have a log stove and that is our heat. Every summer we go out in the woods and cut trees for firewood and get enough to last all winter so that we can heat our home.

Answer 8

Yes I have multi-fuel stove. On a gloomy (even warm) day there is nothing like seeing the flames dance in the fireplace. AND, if you burn wood, it is carbon neutral. There must be thousands of people who have never tasted roasted chestnuts - its nearly (by quite a way) as good as s&x! Try it- you'll love it!

Answer 9

yes, I was in Wales a few christmas's ago, and the family I was with only had coal fire burning.
At first it was lovely, but by day two, I realised just how hard work, how sooty, dirty and gritty it can be.
Mornings are freezing until you get it going, and have to maintain it constantly.
Stick to your toaster, and burn a candle for romance!

Answer 10

Yes my sister and brother in law still use wood fires. Their rayburn cooker is wood burning but it heats radiators .