this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2025
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Fires are horrible. Very difficult to controll the heat output, they also are very costly to run, require a lot of maintenance, and require a lot of space to store the wood.
They're about the best feeling source of heat around, so not horrible.
It's not particularly difficult to control the heat output, it's just a matter of how you load it and how much air you let in. They don't do well for extremely low heat output, but at that sort of cold just put on a jumper instead.
Used to cost about $20 a tonne for wood a few years back when I was in a place with a fire, plus maybe another $50 per tonne in fuel for the ute and saws to gather it (so ~$70 a tonne total). Was a hell of a lot cheaper than gas and a lot cheaper than electricity.
It's just popping up onto the roof once a year and taking ash out every week or so, I never found it a big deal.
This I'll grant you, given how tiny modern yards are. You need a square metre or two for the wood and another couple for room to split it - not much in a traditional suburban backyard but it's noticeable in newer blocks where you have bugger all room around the house.
the vast majority of the heat will always be lost through the chimney. poor efficiency coupled with extremely high particulate output. the maintenance may be easy for you today, but for people with mobility issues chimney problems can quickly become fire hazards.
meanwhile, you're in AUSTRALIA, sunlight is plentiful and battery tech will store and dole out that power all night. I don't see why anyone wants it besides 'ehh feels real cozy'
was cheaper. and you're cutting down trees, which take carbon in. we don't live in the 50s anymore.
lol downvote away it's not changing physics you dingus
That poor efficiency isn't even compared to a modern heat pump, either. In terms of heat output vs energy consumption, they can be up to 400% efficient.
yup. and that heatpump could easily be powered by solar, which is abundantly available *there.
*typo - I'm not in AUS, meant there, not here.