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A comment on What went wrong with the Texas power grid?. Parent comment

Re:What went wrong with the Texas power grid? by throwaway0a5e on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:21PM (#26161851)
It takes very, very specific conditions (you'd have to go out of your way to minimize radiant heat transfer) for a fireplace to put less heat into a room than it removes with airflow.

Back in the day (i.e. 1700s) everyone heated with fireplaces. And many of them (e.g. 2nd floor ones) weren't that big.

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Re:What went wrong with the Texas power grid? by ihaveajob on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:47PM (#26162065)
The problem, in my experience (grew up spending significant time in a 3 story country house made of stone with only one fireplace for heating), is that it gets warm close to the fire and whatever is touching the chimney, but the rest of the house gets colder because of the cold air drawn in by the fire. So very likely a net gain, but depending on where you sleep, it could get interesting at night.
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