Skip to main content
  1. Action
  2. Home
  3. Energy
  4. Get the Most From Your Winter Fire
Get the Most From Your Winter Fire

Get the Most From Your Winter Fire

Updated 2 January 2020 01:00 PM

A fireplace is romantic, cozy and comfortable.  It's also a very inefficient source of heat - at about 10 - 15 percent effective

If you do have an open fire however, here are some tips to get the most heat out of it.


  1. Make a small hot fire - it is more efficient than a big slow one.
  2. Dried out hardwoods, older than 6 months burn longer and hotter than softwoods or green wood. Green wood contains a lot of water.   
  3. If your fireplace doesn't have a fan, open the nearest window just a fraction. This will allow the fireplace to take cool air from outside when it needs it rather than sucking warm air up the chimney.
  4. Install a fireback - it is a metal lining for the back of your fireplace that radiates heat back into the room.
  5. Put glass doors on your fireplace to reflect heat and seal off your fireplace.
  6. Use the damper vent to manage the rate of burn and the heat.  This will also let you keep the fire burning through a cold night.
  7. Get your chimney cleaned every year. This will ensure that your fire burns properly and your house doesn't burn down! 
Something incorrect here? Suggest an update below:
ekko.world
Science Notes

Find a good wood supplier. Young green wood contains about half a litre of water for every kilo of timber. That is the spitting noise you hear when it burns, so effectively you are burning water.

If you love your wood fire, one of the best ways to make it more efficient is to put a heating system like a fire management insert into your fireplace. A heating system will improve heating efficiency by around 5 times and will make your fireplace a lot safer.

Related Tip

If  you have had enough of wood deliveries, splitting wood and scooping out ash, you might consider a gas burning insert for your fireplace. There are a number of extremely efficient faux fire versions and some excellent modern inserts as well.

You can set temperatures, timers to light and all have built in fans that push the warm air out into your room.

Find a Recycler