Where Is Your Fireplace

One thing I have never understood is why Australian Houses nearly always seem to have their fireplaces, and chimneys, on an outside wall.

I was brought up in an English terraced house, and a significant source of heat in winter was the heat radiating from the wall against next door’s fireplace and chimney.

Even the cat knew which was a nice warm spot!

If you are planning to build a detached house with a fireplace don’t position it on an outside wall.

There is going to a lot of heat you have paid for that will be lost to the outside.

Historically

A hundred years ago, when all cooking was done on a wood stove, there was a good reason for the kitchen fireplace to be on an outside wall.

Cooking on a hot Australian summer day meant that you wanted to minimise the heat going into the home, so an outside wall could be a good choice.

These days with almost all of us cooking using electric, or gas, that reason no longer applies.

Planning a house

Check this link to see how I designed a house with a central fireplace:   Bubble Diagrams

Exit mobile version