
The Fireplace Delusion - gits1225
https://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-fireplace-delusion
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sevensor
I see the point he's making, and I think his analogy is spot on, but the fact
that I already view fireplaces as a toxic menace undermined the emotional
effect he was going for.

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muppetman
Well you're much more intelligent that muppet ol' me then. Because I was like,
WTF? We have a fire, we light it, my kids!!!

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sevensor
I grew up in a house heated by wood-burning, so I have zero romantic illusions
about fire. Dust everywhere, bronchitis, wild swings in temperature depending
on whether the stove was lit. Go to sleep soaked in sweat and wake up with
frost on the inside of your windows. And that's when you're doing it right,
more-or-less: seasoned wood, clean chimney, adequate draft, good equipment.
Many recreational wood-burners don't have the first idea what they're doing.
You can tell walking down my street who's burning wet logs in the fireplace.
The absolute worst is commercial campsites, though. Pack a thousand people
into five acres and then sell them wet, round, un-split logs that look like
they were harvested this morning. Campers then proceed to soak it in lighter
fluid and make thick, white, choking smoke that blankets the whole place.

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Bdiem
For everyone living near nothern DE thinking about the transition to the cozy
diesel engine [http://www.maschinenmuseum-kiel-
wik.de](http://www.maschinenmuseum-kiel-wik.de) runs their submarine diesel
engine every 3rd sunday. Spoiler: Loud gets redefined & not especially cozy.

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fishcolorbrick
For what it is worth, this article is from 2012 and this is the 5th time it
has been posted on HN.

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watersb
Thanks. The article is new to me, though.

Oddly enough, I was pondering exactly this delusion as I fired up my small
wood stove this morning. The electric baseboard heaters work quite well, and
recent trends suggest that grid-based electric may continue to become less
environmentally harmful.

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megaman22
I'm sure electric baseboard heating can be effective... Unfortunately,
anyplace I've ever encountered it has suffered from other deficiencies -
inadequate or non-existant insulation, single-pane windows, inadequately
pitched roofs, and other features eminently unsuitable for a cold-weather
climate - that electric heat has become a red flag.

