Your heating bills could go up in smoke

Donal Hickey on the consequences of energy consumption.

WITH the approach of winter, it’s the time for big open fires as can be evidenced from the extra smoke coming from chimneys all over the country these evenings.

The fireplace has always been the focal point of Irish homes, despite central heating, solar power and other forms of energy used for heating. We still love to sit around blazing coal, turf, or wood fires and there’s no doubting the sense of homeliness these bring.