If fireplaces are so inefficient, how did people manage when they were the only heat source in the home?

Question

I understand that with a traditional fireplace, most of the heat is lost through the chimney and you have to be very close to it to feel much heat. A wood stove or insert performs much better. However, I’m curious how people stayed warm enough in a house. It would seem that everywhere besides being near the fireplace would be freezing. I guess fireplaces were mostly meant to locally heat people near the fireplace, and not so much that the fireplace is a central heat source. That would explain why people often had a fireplace in every room. Just light the fireplace that you will be near for most of the time, etc. rather than heat the whole house. Just curious since you often hear “warm by the fireplace”.

In: Technology

Answer 1

[Masonry stoves](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonry_heater) increase the time it takes for the smoke to escape and therefore making the heat exchange better. Also they have a lot of thermal capacity making them slow to heat up but also slow to cool down.