We investigate the physical reality of acoustic heating in the solar chromosphere. Evidence is provided that contrary to previous claims by Fossum & Carlsson, high-frequency acoustic waves are indeed sufficient to heat the nonmagnetic solar chromosphere. This assessment is based on three different lines of evidence, which are (1) a discussion of the inherent problems of the limited sensitivity of TRACE when assessing the three-dimensional solar chromospheric topology, (2) a study of the acoustic chromospheric wave energy flux, and (3) a new look at the heating and emission of chromospheric basal flux stars such as τ Ceti.