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Hom e/FallToast Your Toes The Low Cost WayBY LIBBY HAYMANNow that your insulation and storm windows are in place, what%u2019s your next step in getting ready for ihe cold weather coming any day now? If you%u2019re counting on your fireplace to help keep fuel bills down, a little understanding will go a long way in using your fireplace for anything more than heating a marshmallow.A good place to start learning about fireplaces is %u201cThe Old House Journal,%u201d which, over its six years of publication has covered the subject from hearth to chimney. Here are some suggestions based on %u201c Old House Journal%u201d articles, and a listing of some of the most important ones so you can read them yourself. Back issues, by the way, are available at $1.50 each from the Journal%u2019s offices at 69A Seventh Ave., Brooklyn, 11217. For information, call 636-4514.As with any other adaptation of 19th Centur houses to 20th Century living using a brownstone fireplace depends on knowing how it was used before. Journal writers point out that many fireplaces were no' used for burning wood, but for coal or gas, so that they have inadequate dampers and unlincd flues. But even if yours was a wood fireplace, or if you%u2019ve had a professional %u201copen up%u201d a fireplace to work properly and safely, you should still take a look at your house for more clues.A BROWNSTONE%u2019S DOORSThe first thing to notice is that brownstones were built with lots of doors. Sometimes big archways were hung with portieres, heavy curtains in elegant fabrics. If all these doors and curtains seem to cramp the style of your renovation, look again. They were part of the healing system, which relied on fireplaces to heat rooms, not the whole house. You can shut off the radiators in the rooms with fireplaces, close some doors, and light up. The Journal adds, %u201c ...depending on the size of your house and the weather conditions outside, you may find the fireplace can heat more than one room%u2014in which case you can open the doors to a second room, or possibly a third, without reducing the temperature to uncomfortably cool levels.%u201dOne thing the Journal doesn%u2019t go into is the relationship between fireplaces and the thermostat. Obviously if your fireplace is in the room with the thermostat, your heating system will shut off when the fireplace docs its job. People who really want to save heat will let this happen, enjoying a warm evening by the fire then dashing through chilly rooms to bed, where you%u2019ll wish someone had gone through with a warming pan to heat things up, but where an electric blanket or a quilt do almost as well. The only caveat here is that you can't do it in a house with apartments unless every apartment has a working fireplace.THE DAMPER IS THE TRICKNow that you%u2019re giving the fireplace a reasonable area to heat, there arc still some important. d **m io n i in o 1%u00bb\\cc i \\ f ton m ilc h '%u00bb%u00bb*- .......r> ......-heat up the chimney is critical. The Journal has had numerous articles about dampers, pointing out that if%u201cA little understanding will go a long way in using your fireplace for anything more than heating a marshmallow.%u201dyou could close the damper entirely no heat would go up the chimney. Of course you can%u2019t since the damper also has to let smoke escape, but you can minimize the heat loss if your fireplace is welldesigned, your damper easily adjustable and your fire properly built.Though fireplace and damper adjustments may be a job for a professional or zealous and skilledamateur, building an efficient fire just takes a little scout%u2019s sense. The Journal points out, %u2018%u2018It%u2019s the glowing embers, not the flames, that provide the heat to the room.%u201d This is one reason why manyexperts advise against prepackaged %u201c logs%u201d instead of wood.The logs, often made of sawdust and paraffin, burn beautifully, but very inefficiently. Instead, a low, hot fire of \suggested, and such a fire may not even need a screen. The Journal says that a screen %u201c cuts down on heat transfer to the room,%u201d though this suggestion is probably not to everyone%u2019s taste, since even one escaped ember can cause a lot of trouble.One more idea: %u201c Another trick is to line the hearth with aluminum foil. Ordinarily the hearth absorbs a tremendous amount of heat... But with the aluminum foil over it, the hearth remains cool to the touch and the heat previously lost is now reflected throughout the room.AN EFFICIENT FIREFinally, how can you get that efficient fire? One Journal suggestion is the use of special grates which allow coals to pile up under the front of the burning logs, radiating heat into the room. Another idea is diagrammed by R.A. Labinc, Sr., who says that grates don%u2019t work as well as arranging the fire on a two inch bed of ashes, covering the legs of the andirons if they arc used. A big log is put at the back of the fire, a smaller log is laid four to six inches in front of it and the kindling is placed between. The fire is lit in the middle area, where logs arc put on as needed. When the front and back logs burn up, they are replaced with fresh ones.Want to learn more about tnese and other approaches to fireplace efficiency? Articles to look at include, %u201cHeating With A Fireplace%u201d, by Marc Edrich, OHJ, January 1978; Rebuilding Fireplaces%u201d, by R.C. Hunter, OHJ, July 1975; %u201c Repairing Old Chimneys%u201d , by Matt Huff, OHJ, May 1977; and even a do it yourelf chimney cleaning guide in %u201cChimney Sweeping%u201d, bv Eva Horton, OHJ August 1978.What The Experts Say AboutGetting Warmth From An Aging HearthBY LIBBY HAYMAN%u201c Fireplaces used to be a rich man%u2019s thing,%u201d says Joseph R. Walas when asked about the many years he has been repairing fireplaces. %u201c We were here before the brownstone renovators, and we used to have only a handful of houses in Brooklyn where we did fireplace work.%u201dWalas, who has been in business on his own for 25 years, worked v/ith one of the masters of fireplace building, Frederick Whitley, now deceased. With a shop on DeGraw Street, Walas has been on hand for more fireplace renovations than he can count, and he even sends out reminder cards to his customers letting them know, just as a dentist reminds you about your teeth, that it%u2019s time for the chimney to be cleaned.The cleaning may cost around $50 per chimney, and without it achimney fire is a real possibility. Walas reports that he has been called in after many a fire, and that people who use their fireplaces constantly should plan on annual cleanings to keep them safe.Can a fireplace help save on fuel? Walas reminds brownstoners, %u201cThey%u2019re made to heat one room. That%u2019s why brownstones have so many doors.%u201d He also emphasizes the importance of design in the fireplace, pointing out that Whitley, his early mentor, %u201c wrote the graphic standards for architects%u201d for fireplace design. Walas will consult with homeowners about their fireplaces, and he tries to arrange for two or three calls in the same neighborhood so that he doesn%u2019t have to charge for a first visit.Another expert in fireplaces is Stan Tish, whose Custom Crafts .firm offers \to finish,%u201d that is chimneylining, fireplace building, and even making mantels. If you have a wall, Tish will turn it into a fireplace for you, with the cost depending on so many individual factors, including which floor you want the fireplace on, that Tish is reluctant to give any general prices. Tish also installs stoves (Joseph Walas does too), and he will consult with customers on what they would like and do the ordering as well as the installing.A stove gives more heat than a fireplace, with a Shenandoah wood stove heating as much as 2000 square feet, Tish reports. But Tish emphasizes that a traditional fireplace gives %u201c warmth in a social sense more than in a literal sense,%u201d and that there%u2019s no substitute forr*.. - an u y e u mv*%u201c Wood stoves are more efficient,%u201d he says, %u201c but they%u2019re stillbig hunks of iron.%u201d Tish doesn%u2019t recommend building a fireplace to save on fuel bills, though he notes that if you turn down the heat in the rest ot the house white you use the fire, your costs will obviously go down. Why have a fireplace? %u201c It has a charm all its own,%u201d Tish comments.There is, of course, plenty of demand for fireplace repairs, and several other contractors who will do the job. Two more local experts are Jack Busearello, who does all sorts of brownstone and masonry work, and John Tungate.Joseph R. Walas, 266 DeGrawSt., 624-0797Stan Tish, Custom Crafts,643-0956Jack Busearello and Sons, 396Seventh A ve -1 0 9 .1 9 0 6 .John Tungate, 788-8633R H H %u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0i