I had open fires until well into the late 90s. Loved them. But since switching to CH after an unusually harsh winter down in West Cornwall, although I left open the fireplace in the living room - I never used it again!

No more blackbirds down the chimney! No more smoke filled house! Soot stained rugs! No more slicing off the tops of fingers while chopping wood! No more cleaning grate and emptying ashes. Or lugging buckets of coal!

A bit like when I gave up growing grass - I ended up wishing I could get back all the years of my life I'd spent mowing, weeding and generally maintaining the stuff!

*I understood it was illegal to 'set light to' your chimney as a means of cleaning it?

My mum has one and it's a blooming faff and a half - add in the compulsion men seem to have to prod it with a poker in a vaguely authoritative manner every 20 seconds and grrr!

The dust, mess, constant trips out to fill up the coal bucket, wood chopping when they're burning logs on it, and the fact that any heat you get out of it is usually blocked by either a cat trying to cook themselves or a rather large dog backside...

It was an accident ... on each occasion! Stupid me leaving the bottom open, allowing the fire to roar

I'm the fire prodder in our house. I love everything to do with fire - the whole wood gathering, the sawing, the lighting, the nurturing, the stacking. Can't say I like the mess that is created, and let's face it, there is a lot of mess, but it is worth it to me.

Like Mini we can't have an open fire here because of the area which never used to bother me however over the years I have come to wish I could, I love fires and everything to do with them and would if in the position you were in Az have one in an instant.

I never seem to buy a house with chimney breasts so an open fire has never been an option. My current house is so warm that the central heating didn't get put on even once last year and the windows are always open all year round so I think an open fire would just be for looks rather than heat for us.

We had an open fire in one pf our previous houses.

We moved in when we were council tenants and there was a gas fire and when they came to inspect it they condemned it the gas fire that is. We did also have central heating.

One miserable Sunday afternoon I decided to pick the awful plastic fireplace covering off and underneath was the most beautiful red brick so that was it out came the gas fire in went a grate chimney swept and off we went we loved it spent many a happy winter afternoon playing board games with the boys toasting marshmallows and toast.

The next house had a wonderful fireplace and a living flame gas fire pretty useless that was luckily we had central heating there too to back it up as it didn't really warm the room. If we had stayed there longer we may of opened it up.

We are not allowed open fires here being in a conservation area some houses in Harlow do but not here and I do miss having the option of a real fire.
So top of our list when we move is fireplaces.

Gorden and I grew up with open fires and I must say I do like the option of central heating too as the days when it was just open fires and ice on the insides of the window do not appeal as I am getting older.

My dad's house has an open fire and I love it, the sounds and the smell but then it is not mine so I don't have the cleaning and taking care of it etc. My mum's house has a woodburner stove and she is really pleased with it and seems quite low maintenance.

I do love the whole open fire idea though, it reminds me of being a small child at my grandparents house and the smell of the coal fires, toasting chestnuts and, randomly, finding a great hide and seek place in my granddad's coal shed

We just have a gas fire here, I would like an open fire but it's not really the right house for it.

I have a fireplace but the chimney hasn't been swept in atleast 4 years and the fire hasn't been run either. I'd love to set it up as I've always wanted an open fire. The only thing really holding me back is although I know Bandit and Malcolm will love it I think Scooby will be afraid, he doesn't like to admit it but he really is a wimp!

I'd actually prefer a word burner than an open fire as they are more efficient and I trust them to be shut down over night. Having said that the ambience an open fire brings to a room is lovely Oh the choices!

We have a massive great inglenook which you could throw a whole tree on almost, but shortly after we moved in we had the Coalbrookdale installed to run the rads as back then wood and coal was cheap. It was fantastic - there was a massive dog basket, with a boiler at the back concealed to look like a fireback, which heated the water, but we then installed the Coalbrookdale. The house was boiling, too hot actually, but is perfect now we have a mix of oil, underfloor heating in the conservatory and the extension, and the Coalbrookdale with its doors open when we are watching the telly at night - very cozy and yummy when we toast marshmallows, jelly cubes, chestnuts and toast toast!!