Do you use your fireplace?

[Slava]

I know that this is a little bit of an odd question! The reason that I ask is that we just bought a new house that has no fireplace. We have one in our house now, but never use it (its gas, so it's easy, but still never gets turned on).

I was wondering how many people actually use theirs? Would you ever buy a home without one or is it a deal breaker?

[TurnedTheCorner]

It's one of those weird features. Because while a fireplace really adds to the appeal of a room, I find that I rarely use ours. Maybe a half-dozen to a dozen times in the winter, and then only for brief periods where I want a quick warmup on a cold winter's day.

Even though I don't use it, my main room on the ground floor would look decidedly odd without one. It would probably be close to a deal breaker for me if I was comparing two similar properties.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that ours is natural gas. I suspect most homes built within the last 10-15 years in Calgary have a natural gas fireplace.

[The Goon]

It's great in the wintertime, that's for darn sure.

[Rerun]

I've got a wood burning fireplace... and its rarely used.

[BlackArcher101]

If it's gas, wouldn't use it. If it's wood, then I would use it whenever it was cold.

[HalifaxDrunk]

We use our propane (no natural gas hookups down here, I know, it's weird) fireplace all the time during the winter. Don't know if it's a dealbreaker, we had a gas one in Toronto and it was a feature we did crave while looking here in NS, but would have bought a house we loved without one.

[Cowperson]

A fireplace gives your home a certain monetary value . . . . . but we never - never - use our wood burning one.

We just never bother with it. Just once in ten years.

Cowperson

[Rhettzky]

We shut ours down last summer and didn't bother to fire it up once all winter. It's kind of useless, to me, to have fire that you can't cook on.

[habernac]

we've got one of the natural gas ones and I've not turned it on even once. If it was wood burning, I'd probably use it all the time. More fun when you actually have to tend to it.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Gas-Use it all the time. I'm surprised by the lack of use here, I love using it.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by habernac

we've got one of the natural gas ones and I've not turned it on even once. If it was wood burning, I'd probably use it all the time. More fun when you actually have to tend to it.

Surely a 365 day fireplace channel, instead of the Christmas only one, could ease your pain? Write the CRTC!

[Slava]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Surely a 365 day fireplace channel, instead of the Christmas only one, could ease your pain? Write the CRTC!

I loved that at xmas! I think that the turkey roasting loop on thanksgiving was cool to!

[Displaced Flames fan]

I have a fireplace?????

[Displaced Flames fan]

Seriously, though....our basement is roughed in for a fireplace and I can't wait til we get it finished and have the choice!

[Phanuthier]

My (family) home has a wood fireplace, and it hasn't been used in 15 years.

[Buff]

We have a wood burning fireplace. We used to use it quite often. Since our son was born we haven't used it too often. I remember we had a cold snap just after Christmas 03' and the fireplace was burning wood from 9:00am until 11:00pm for those few days. This last season we maybe used it 3 times at the most. Previous year we probably used it about 7 or 8 times. In previous years we would've used it around 40 times.

[CaptainReboot]

We have a fireplace, but I think the only time it was turned on was during our posession walkthrough. We also turned it on once to try and kill a moth that got stuck inside it somehow.

It's more of a centre piece for the room than anything for us. We designed it a bit different to make it more contemporary. (it bumps out of the wall, is stainless steel and has a tile hearth along the ground). It's a focal point when people enter and are supposed to go wow!

[Reaper]

While we currently don't have a fireplace in our home, in our previous home we used the fireplace 12 to 15 times per winter. It was more of an ambiance type deal though as I'd frequently have to open the outside door because it would get too hot.

[beachy]

We have a gas fireplace and use it all the time in the winter. We upgraded to a high heat one with a fan and absolutely love it!

[shane_c]

We have a gas one and never use it. It may have been on twice in the last 2 years and that was basically me being curious to see if it still works. Then I turning the switch off again a few seconds later.