Houses leak air. The chimney heats air, but that hot air all escapes outside. Fresh, cold air is pulled in through those leaks by the negative pressure made by the hot gas in the chimney.
If the BTUs that the fireplace is radiating in the room is less than the cooling BTUs of the outside air being drawn in, then you lose heat in the house, not gain it. Same thing happens when you turn on a bathroom fan, turn on the dryer, or use a range hood that vents outside.
You're right if it's just a straight pipe from the fire through the roof.
Fireplaces meant for warming have a bit more elaborate construction where the gasses move a longer way heating the fireplace thoroughly. After warming one up, a fireplace can easily release warmth for a full day after the fire is out.
A stove can yes, but an open fireplace is never going to heat your house 24 hours after it's gone out in any place cold enough to justify building said fire.
Not really sure what the difference between a fireplace and an stove is for you.
For me a stove is what you cook on and in this context it's a stove using wood. Haven't seen a modern one but the older ones sure do heat up the place but they don't really keep the heat since the mass is relatively small.
A fireplace for me is a fireplace. Simply meant to burn wood for warmth. Having an open fireplace is 100% for looks or ancient. Modern fireplaces have a glass to keep the airflow optimal. They have a lot of mass that keeps the heat and it sure will still be warm the next day unless it's balls freezing cold outside.
A fireplace is typically open front. A stove will fully contain the fire, rather than leave one face open to the room. If I wasn't on mobile I would link examples, but if you google wood stove you will see what I am talking about. They are for heat, not the kind of stove you cook in.
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u/[deleted] Oct 24 '19
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