What return on investment can I get if I own a functioning wood
burning fireplace in New York City as oppossed to a decorative
fireplace?

A return on your investment will likely be small to none, even if you
run your fire place on free wood. It is not really free as you
typically have expences transporting it, storing it, and cutting it to
length. The burning wood requires considerable air to burn properly,
so air comes in from outside to replace the air and other gases that
go up the chimney. When it is very cold outside, heating this cold
outside air with your main heating system will increase energy cost
over not using the fire place. Occasionly the wood fire place will
releace smoke and soot into your room which will thus require more
frequent dusting and repainting. Furniture etc will also become dingy
sooner. A properly vented gas log fire place will do the same thing
occasionly, but typically with much less soot.
 You may recover most of the initial cost when you sell your home, but
it is almost as likely your buyer will consider either type of fire
place a negligible asset.   Neil

Please quote sources of information as I read in an industry article
(but could not locate it, hence the question), that the ROI was about
5 times the cost for vented logs.  Also, depending on where you live,
that vented gas logs provided a very desirable selling feature in a
home/apartment.

You may want to take a look at a question I answered,
http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=155476 with
some information and possible sources.

Hi talltwin!

I love this question. Unfortunately, I am sick and just stopped in for
a few minutes.

I disagree with neilzero, emphatically.

I used to have a 2,500 Square foot home that had baseboard heaters. My
electric bill in Winter was upwards of $350-400 a month. I installed a
forced air "Buck [WOOD -Burning] Stove" and removed the baseboard
heaters from the walls, so I wouldn't be tempted. The Buck Stove was
rated to burn coal as well. I could heat my entire home with 1/4 ton
of coal and 2 cords of (pre-split) wood --for all winter. The coal was
about $50.00 and the wood was about $140 a cord, so the total cost for
winter was less than one months electric bill.

Buck makes freestanding stoves and inserts. I highly recommend them.

Buck Stove
http://www.buckstovecorp.com/
I'll bet these folks have the data you are asking for. They had data
when I bought mine.

Wood Heat
http://ww2.green-trust.org:8383/wood_heat.htm
In the second paragraph: ..."Despite the fact that the harvesting,
processing and transportation of wood fuel invariably consumes fossil
fuels, it has been shown in case studies that the energy return on
investment can easily exceed a ratio of 25:1 ..."

[I think that's a bit high]


If this remains unanswered in a couple more days, I'll get more info
for you, but I'm sick as a dog right now, back to bed!

--Cynthia


Search terms used at Google:
"Return On Investment" and "Wood Stove"
"Return On Investment" and "Wood Heat"
"Wood Heat" and savings and data

I'd like to add [to refute neilzero's comment] that the Buck Stove is
a closed system. In other words, the firebox is sealed, you burn the
wood with the door closed. There's a window so you can see it burning.
Also, my wood was $140 a cord, --split, delivered, stacked, and
covered with plastic, along side my house. I had NO cost associated
with cleaning furniture and such because of the closed system. It
would seem to me that any reputable dealer of quality wood stoves
would have tackled the "soot" problem a long time ago, as in the Buck
Stoves.

I recovered the cost of the Buck Stove in about 4 months. It retailed
for $1,500 and after using it as my only source of heat over the first
winter, I saved money. The subsequent years were gravy. My electric
bill went down to $60-70 a month, same as in summer. This was in
Seattle.

As a sidenote, coal does leave an odor in the home, but I was more
than happy to put up with it. WHat I did was get a fire started, then
add a chunk of coal which burns about 8-12 hours, then add more wood,
then coal, then wood, always remembering to put coal on at night. In
the morning you just add wood to whatever coal was left and repeat the
wood/coal routine. The Buck Stove ran, literally ALL winter straight,
about 5+ months: October through March. Then an occasional fire, then
none during summer.

It was the best most cost effective heat I ever had. After the second
year I bought rounds (instead of split wood) and split it myself. I'd
wait till I was angry  ;-)  and then go outside and wail on wood for
2-3 hours.  It doesn't seem like work then!

Anyway, I don't think neilzero has ever used an efficient wood stove,
-or he would have a different opinion. Call the folks at The Buck
Stove Company and ask them for ROI info.

And Good Luck!!

--Cynthia