Introduce yourself

[Guliver]

Hey everyone, sorry for not posting anything in months again, you know how it is, real life always gets in the way. I wanted to at least pop in and say merry christmas/happy holidays to everyone who celebrates it in any way, and wish peace and happiness to all those who don't. I'm glad to be here and one of you guys, hopefully I'll have more time to be more active on here. Cheers!

[humbert]

Hey everyone, sorry for not posting anything in months again, you know how it is, real life always gets in the way. I wanted to at least pop in and say merry christmas/happy holidays to everyone who celebrates it in any way, and wish peace and happiness to all those who don't. I'm glad to be here and one of you guys, hopefully I'll have more time to be more active on here. Cheers!

Hey Guliver! Nice of you to stop in and say hello. Indeed time is a valuable commodity. Despite that, I hope you can be on here more often and share your input. We need "perspicacious" people like you. 

[Guliver]

Oh, I wanted to ask you, Humbert, how are things in Texas? I read some time ago that Texas declared a state of emergency as a precautionary measure, due to the recent extreme weather in the US. They said that this time around the energy grid and operators were better prepared and so nothing should actually happen. Have you experienced any problems?

[humbert]

Oh, I wanted to ask you, Humbert, how are things in Texas? I read some time ago that Texas declared a state of emergency as a precautionary measure, due to the recent extreme weather in the US. They said that this time around the energy grid and operators were better prepared and so nothing should actually happen. Have you experienced any problems?

Last time around (Feb 2021) it was pretty serious. My outdoor thermometer was reading anywhere from -10℃ to -5℃ with no electricity for hours. No power = No heat. There is a chimney at home but a tropical boy like me has no idea how to use it. This not to mention that it was easier to find a gold ingot in the street than finding firewood. FORTUNATELY this time around despite temps dropping to -9°, I never lost power nor heat. Some people did lose power but mostly in Houston. San Antonio was mostly unaffected.

[Shadow.97]

Oh, I wanted to ask you, Humbert, how are things in Texas? I read some time ago that Texas declared a state of emergency as a precautionary measure, due to the recent extreme weather in the US. They said that this time around the energy grid and operators were better prepared and so nothing should actually happen. Have you experienced any problems?

Last time around (Feb 2021) it was pretty serious. My outdoor thermometer was reading anywhere from -10℃ to -5℃ with no electricity for hours. No power = No heat. There is a chimney at home but a tropical boy like me has no idea how to use it. This not to mention that it was easier to find a gold ingot in the street than finding firewood. FORTUNATELY this time around despite temps dropping to -9°, I never lost power nor heat. Some people did lose power but mostly in Houston. San Antonio was mostly unaffected.

Do not use a chimney connected fireplace unless it's been safety inspected. Should be done every 3 years if you only use it occassionally. Otherwise you can get soot fire. 

[humbert]

Do not use a chimney connected fireplace unless it's been safety inspected. Should be done every 3 years if you only use it occassionally. Otherwise you can get soot fire. 

I take it that as a Swedish citizen you must have used firewood to heat your house. I don't have the slightest clue as to how to use it. When I moved in I found a soot-infested piece of metal in the chimney. It seems designed as if to hold firewood in place. I've never seen anything like it. Having no use for it, I put it somewhere in the garage until I find some way to dispose of it.

Just curious: how DO you use a chimney with firewood? Do you just throw it in the chimney, put gasoline or some other fire accelerant, and ingite it? Also, it seems to me that on a cold night only the area around the chimney will be warm. The rest of the house stays cold. Right???

BTW: Are you back in Växjö? If so I assume you quit your job in Dublin. Are you working now?

[Shadow.97]

Do not use a chimney connected fireplace unless it's been safety inspected. Should be done every 3 years if you only use it occassionally. Otherwise you can get soot fire. 

I take it that as a Swedish citizen you must have used firewood to heat your house. I don't have the slightest clue as to how to use it. When I moved in I found a soot-infested piece of metal in the chimney. It seems designed as if to hold firewood in place. I've never seen anything like it. Having no use for it, I put it somewhere in the garage until I find some way to dispose of it.

Just curious: how DO you use a chimney with firewood? Do you just throw it in the chimney, put gasoline or some other fire accelerant, and ingite it? Also, it seems to me that on a cold night only the area around the chimney will be warm. The rest of the house stays cold. Right???

BTW: Are you back in Växjö? If so I assume you quit your job in Dublin. Are you working now?

I usually take 3-4 logs that are around 25cm long and 10cm in diameter, make them lie ontop of eachother, put in some tinder wood alongside half of a lightercube.
The lightercube burns for a handful of minutes and the paper helps getting the place hot enough.

It will ofcourse depend on the size of the fire place.
Our stove I usually use 7cm diameter logs and only two of them. Along side with some tinder wood and half a lighter cube.
You don't want it to burn violently, just enough to keep the ember going.

Spread of heat depends on the setup. If you have a setup like this, it will spread quite a bit.



I have no idea what metal piece you are talking about. Could it be a grate to elevate the logs from the ashes and increase airflow? Makes cleaning a fair chunk easier.


And depending on size/insulation you can expect more or less parts of your house staying warm.
I wouldn't expect more than a room or two to be hot enough using only a fireplace that is enclosed.
Never use gasoline to light fires, perhaps a tiny bit outdoors but lighter fluid exists for a reason Even then, I would only use that on coal for a bbq grill.

On a cold night you wont likely have a fire, not only is it a hazard but it will put itself out if you do not constantly feed it. For sustained heat you want a pellets heater with an automatic feeder.

Not many people have fireplaces. Mostly older homes that are not in the city.
The ones who do mainly use it for coziness rather than heat.
In the city district heating is the most common. Hot water being produced in one part of the city then pumped across the city.




As for living/working. Living outside the city, 15 min by car. No job yet. Been too busy with life in general.

[humbert]

Thanks for the explanation and for all those pics. It seems that doing all this is much more difficult than I thought. I'm not clear how you ignite logs or what fire accelerant you use.

The logs pictured on the side of the burner. Do you buy them or go out with an ax and cut trees?

I'm seeing a fan in the picture. I imagine this is to send heat to the area in front of the fireplace. What about the rest of the house? Is heat conducted through the walls or what?

The piece of iron I mentioned is like the one in the picture. I even went to the garage to look at it before responding. Since the garbage is coming tomorrow morning, I just threw it out.

I had no idea that homes or businesses were heated by heating water in one place and sending the hot water to radiators. How do they bill you? Since they're selling you kcals of heat, I guess there must be a calorimeter somewhere. Do you use the same heat to heat water for bathing? Here I'm lucky enough to live in a neighborhood that has a gas pipeline to feed a gas-fired furnace and water heater. Those who don't have to rely on electricity.

Regarding your living-working outside the city, do you mean Växjö?

[Shadow.97]

Thanks for the explanation and for all those pics. It seems that doing all this is much more difficult than I thought. I'm not clear how you ignite logs or what fire accelerant you use.

Usually none, or tiny cubes that you buy in a store. You light it with a candle lighter then it lights the logs on fire.

The logs pictured on the side of the burner. Do you buy them or go out with an ax and cut trees?

Usually chainsaw on big trees and through the thick logs. Then chopchop the small pieces center down. or buy from someone who has it as their business to deliver. You can buy it in DIY stores as well.

I'm seeing a fan in the picture. I imagine this is to send heat to the area in front of the fireplace. What about the rest of the house? Is heat conducted through the walls or what?

Heat goes through walls and the air

The piece of iron I mentioned is like the one in the picture. I even went to the garage to look at it before responding. Since the garbage is coming tomorrow morning, I just threw it out.

Might be around $60 to replace if you ever need one 

I had no idea that homes or businesses were heated by heating water in one place and sending the hot water to radiators. How do they bill you? Since they're selling you kcals of heat, I guess there must be a calorimeter somewhere. Do you use the same heat to heat water for bathing? Here I'm lucky enough to live in a neighborhood that has a gas pipeline to feed a gas-fired furnace and water heater. Those who don't have to rely on electricity.

Unfortunately I didnt pay the bills so I'm not sure.
I do believe it is the same water for bathing. I'm not entirely sure how that part works. Unfortunately this infrastructure does not reach the place we live at now.

We got it at the same time we got fiber internet, around 2003. It's the same parent company responsible for the optic cables as it is for the heating infrastructure. So they dug both at the same time across most of the city.
There's also district cooling available, but that's almost purely to businesses and a handful of fancy appartments

Regarding your living-working outside the city, do you mean Växjö?

Yes, except I'm unemployed.

[humbert]

Usually none, or tiny cubes that you buy in a store. You light it with a candle lighter then it lights the logs on fire.

Interesting! The tiny cubes are the accelerant.

Heat goes through walls and the air

Through the walls make sense. Through the air I'd think you'd need more fans to move it around. Doesn't hot air rise?

Might be around $60 to replace if you ever need one 

I don't think so. Remember I'm a tropical boy. While San Antonio might be cooler than Miami in the winter, it's certainly warmer than places further north. I don't have the slightest clue as to start a fire inside the house, not to mention I'd be terrified.

BTW last month we had a freeze with temps dropping to -9°C. Just today it was 28°C. This is just shy of the all time heat record in San Antonio for January (30°C). I can't seem to get away from the heat. Why couldn't I have been born Canadian or Swedish?

Unfortunately I didnt pay the bills so I'm not sure.
I do believe it is the same water for bathing. I'm not entirely sure how that part works. Unfortunately this infrastructure does not reach the place we live at now.

That's understandable. The part I still don't understand is how people pay for the service. If there weren't some sort of calorimeter to count the kcals used, then what's to stop people from opening the window with the heat on?

We got it at the same time we got fiber internet, around 2003.

How I envy you living in a highly advanced country like Sweden! Fiber arrived in my neighborhood around 2015, and even then I'm fortunate to have it. The vast majority of places here don't.

Yes, except I'm unemployed.

I'm confident a highly skilled guy like yourself will find a job soon. I believe you said you left Dublin because getting a place to live was extremely difficult and very expensive, not to mention it would be the size of a matchbox. It wasn't your job if you don't mind my asking?