On Oct 25, 12:13*am, "Bob F" wrote:
LouB wrote:
Wayne Whitney wrote:
On 2009-10-24, Dan Musicant wrote:

Wayne, are you there? Wayne Whitney who traffics this newsgroup

Yo! *My trafficking is fairly irregular these days, it was chance
that I noticed your post.

told me that fireplaces release particulate matter which has been
shown to shorten one life.

Right, but most of those are emitted outside, so you'd be shortening
your neighbor's lives, not your own. *Of course, if your fireplace
has a drafting problem, you could get smoke and particulates inside.

The best option pollution wise is to get an EPA-certified wood
burning insert in your fireplace. *They have some form of
afterburner or catalyst to burn wood more cleanly. *Plus you could
improve the efficiency of using the fireplace to heat the house, as
you should be able to arrange to use outside air for combustion and
just blow the heat into the house. *Much more efficient than a
conventional fireplace.

However, the expense of the insert and/or necessary chimney
improvements or liners may be prohibitive.

Cheers, Wayne
Thia Old House just had a show with that. *Inserts are expensive!

I bought my EPA certified insert with most of the stainless chimney liner used
for $300. Replaced the "afterburner" tubes in the top for $40 or something like
that. There are ways.

It heats well, and rarely has visible smoke after the initial few minutes..

And I get way more heat from it, and less heat loss up the chimney then a
fireplace could ever provide.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

True about the efficiency. Of course _anything_ is more effectient
than a fireplace. They are the most efficient wasters of wood known
to man...well, an open pit would be worse I suppose.

Harry K