The fireplace has long been the favorite spot to gather in the American home. A place for warmth, the fireplace adds ambience, sparking memories that are to be treasured. With all the benefits that a fireplace can bring, there are some major downsides that if not addressed can cause a love for the fireplace to wane.
With soaring energy costs, the chief negative of having a fireplace has to be its inefficiency. When there is a fire burning, the fireplace does indeed radiate warmth in its general vicinity, but it also creates a convection current that can actually pull conditioned air out of the room and up the chimney causing your furnace to work overtime. When the fire is not burning, the fireplace has a damper which is supposed to block inside air from escaping and outside air from invading. The problem is that the damper is usually made of metal (this type of damper technology hasn’t changed in over 100 years!) and has no seal, which means that the damper is incredibly inefficient.
Your home has a dirty little secret – the fireplace that is designed to warm your house is actually doing the opposite and costing you hundreds of dollars in energy costs. Don’t fret – with a little investment of time and money, you can turn that inefficient fireplace into a powerhouse heater that will reduce your energy bills and add even more charm to your existing fireplace.
The following is a list of 4 things that you can do yourself to drastically reduce the heating costs associated with the inefficiency of your fireplace.
1. Top Sealing Dampers replace the fireplace throat damper and are installed at the top of the chimney. The top sealing damper has a seal that acts like a storm door keeping the expensive conditioned air inside the house and the outside air – outside. This principle works year round, whether you’re heating or cooling your house. This product can be purchased online and is easily installed by either a homeowner or a handyman.
2. A fireback is a cast iron plate that is placed at the back of your fireplace. Its purpose is to protect the back wall from fire damage and it usually features a design that adds to the homes decor. The fireback improves the fireplaces efficiency by absorbing the heat from the fire and radiating the heat back into the room.
3. A Fireplace Heater pulls fresh air from the room, circulates it through a chamber that is heated by the fire and then blows the heated air back into the room. These heaters are closed systems so no smoke from the fireplace is invading the home. Depending on which kind you purchase, these heaters can make a significant difference in your homes temperature, even heating a full room on its own. Specific fireplace heaters can be installed with fireplace glass doors which will kick your cost savings up another notch.
4. Fireplace Glass Doors will likely carry the largest investment, but you can reduce some of that cost by doing some of the work yourself. There are a number of fireplace doors that can be purchased online and come with easy to install instructions. The fireplace glass door creates a barrier between the living space and the chimney, thus reducing the area that your furnace will have to heat. This alone is a good reason to install these doors, but it’s not the only reason. Fireplace glass doors offer another level of safety for the home by protecting children and pets from the fire. If you have a wood burning fireplace you will want to purchase the screen mesh that is designed to go with the fireplace glass doors. This will allow you to have the doors open while the fire is burning and still have your home protected from sparks and embers. Fireplace glass doors are now being manufactured with modern designs and really add beauty and charm to the fireplace.
If you’re handy, all of these suggestions are easy to accomplish. In addition, all of the products, while difficult to find locally, can easily be purchased online. If you’re concerned about high energy costs but you want to keep your fireplace, then it’s time to plug up the holes in your monthly energy budget by plugging up the holes in your fireplace.
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About the Author: Marcus Dallacqua
Woodland Direct
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Fireplace Mantels and the Fast Track to Buying them
If you use the correct methods fireplace tips can be accessed really quickly, if you do not rush when implementing your fireplace research and you will never go far wrong, if you require specialist assistance on products such as vent free natural gas fireplaces then see if you can locate a number of specialized fireplace articles.
If you use the correct methods fireplace tips can be accessed really quickly, if you do not rush whilst implementing your fireplace research and you will never go far wrong, if you require expert assistance on items such as ventless gas corner fireplaces then see if you can locate a number of specialized fireplace .
Many fireplace experts and other individuals that might work with or have some involvement with fireplaces can easily be discovered via the regional telephone listings, there should be numerous listings of people who are associated in some way with fireplaces and such people could save you a considerable amount of your valuable time by assisting you with your fireplace focused issues.
It is a fact that your town library can be an ideal place to get hold of info on fireplace products, advances like the web can cause us to neglect the many other heating resources that are presently freely accessible to all of us, take advantage of such sources of free fireplace data, good fireplace product knowledge can very often be hard to locate.
It would be wise to bear in mind that as you research this area of heat installation that you might very well be overcome with some pretty confusing search results, such results as outdoor fireplace inserts or precast fireplace surrounds could however be particularly relevant to your needs.
You see home improvement is an area that covers a huge area of different fireplace products like rock fireplace mantels and superior gas fireplaces, say you wanted expert help on a particular area of fireplaces, lets suppose a product like vanguard fireplaces, this might easily be sourced from a fireplace supplier.
Now if you should require advice on ventless gas fireplaces it will often be better to use a fireplace site in order to initiate contact with a fireplace expert, by doing this you will obviously be able to get a modest amount of fireplace info for free.
If for some reason you can't get the heating data you desire from a fireplace supplier then probably you are looking in the inappropriate place, for instance, lets suppose your area of focus was victorian fireplace inserts, it would possibly be good for you to check a certain interior design portal.
The way to find out if a fireplace site might be able to help you with your particular fireplace search, pretend for a moment a blue flame fireplace is your particular item, is to discover if the site contains a categorised fireplace section and a good number of fireplace write ups, if in fact it does supply this type of things then getting a fireplace that is suitable will be easy, if however the website is about a common home improvement topic then it is unlikely you will come up with your required fireplace targeted help.
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About the Author: Free fireplace mantels guide by Jilly Pertwee can be found at : http://www.warmfireplace.com
If you use the correct methods fireplace tips can be accessed really quickly, if you do not rush whilst implementing your fireplace research and you will never go far wrong, if you require expert assistance on items such as ventless gas corner fireplaces then see if you can locate a number of specialized fireplace .
Many fireplace experts and other individuals that might work with or have some involvement with fireplaces can easily be discovered via the regional telephone listings, there should be numerous listings of people who are associated in some way with fireplaces and such people could save you a considerable amount of your valuable time by assisting you with your fireplace focused issues.
It is a fact that your town library can be an ideal place to get hold of info on fireplace products, advances like the web can cause us to neglect the many other heating resources that are presently freely accessible to all of us, take advantage of such sources of free fireplace data, good fireplace product knowledge can very often be hard to locate.
It would be wise to bear in mind that as you research this area of heat installation that you might very well be overcome with some pretty confusing search results, such results as outdoor fireplace inserts or precast fireplace surrounds could however be particularly relevant to your needs.
You see home improvement is an area that covers a huge area of different fireplace products like rock fireplace mantels and superior gas fireplaces, say you wanted expert help on a particular area of fireplaces, lets suppose a product like vanguard fireplaces, this might easily be sourced from a fireplace supplier.
Now if you should require advice on ventless gas fireplaces it will often be better to use a fireplace site in order to initiate contact with a fireplace expert, by doing this you will obviously be able to get a modest amount of fireplace info for free.
If for some reason you can't get the heating data you desire from a fireplace supplier then probably you are looking in the inappropriate place, for instance, lets suppose your area of focus was victorian fireplace inserts, it would possibly be good for you to check a certain interior design portal.
The way to find out if a fireplace site might be able to help you with your particular fireplace search, pretend for a moment a blue flame fireplace is your particular item, is to discover if the site contains a categorised fireplace section and a good number of fireplace write ups, if in fact it does supply this type of things then getting a fireplace that is suitable will be easy, if however the website is about a common home improvement topic then it is unlikely you will come up with your required fireplace targeted help.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author: Free fireplace mantels guide by Jilly Pertwee can be found at : http://www.warmfireplace.com
Fireplaces and the Magic Touch to Buying Onlne
It has to be said fireplaces and interior design is a subject that covers a vast assortment of diverse fireplace items including, soapstone fireplace inserts and tempered glass fireplace closures, say that you wanted expert assistance on any area of fireplaces, lets suppose a product like vanguard fireplaces, this might possibly be sourced via fireplace expert.
With the right technique fireplace guidance can sometimes be accessed really quickly, if you take your time when carrying out your fireplace research you will certainly not go far wrong, if you would like specialist assistance on items such as vented fireplaces then try and discover a collection of fireplace reviews.
You will see that home improvement listings are a relatively useful source of knowledge on numerous products such as wood fireplace mantel shelfs and wooden fireplace surrounds, these type of directories can be located all over the net.
Consider also when you search this area of interior design that you may be overloaded with a good deal of truly varied research results, such results as outdoor wood burning fireplaces and propane fireplaces may though be very relevant to your needs.
Say you are actually looking for replacement fireplace screens or stone fireplace mantels, it is obvious that these type of products might not be currently available on too many websites, be sure that you employ your PC bookmark function when you make this sort of fireplace targeted internet research, your useful info must be treated with the greatest of care.
With the right method fireplace knowledge might easily be accessed extremely rapidly, if you take your time when implementing your fireplace research and you will not go far wrong, if you need specialized advice on merchandise like ventless gas fireplace inserts then see if you can find a number of expert fireplace reviews.
A large amount of directories will contain specific catalogues focusing on fireplaces, if a consumer should want a free standing fireplace or a arlington fireplace mantel simply locate the most appropriate fireplace section.
With the right technique fireplace guidance can sometimes be accessed really quickly, if you take your time when carrying out your fireplace research you will certainly not go far wrong, if you would like expert assistance on products such as ventless gas corner fireplaces then try and discover a collection of fireplace write ups.
Because of the web, access to a whole lot of fireplace knowledge can give you details on a great selection of fine products, say you want a specialist product, lets say a fireplace insert, you may possibly be smarter searching in a home furnishing or fireplace directory, these will contain specific categories so locating a corn fireplace insert stove, fireplace screeen insert and even a fireproof fireplace rug will never turn out to be a problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author: Free fireplaces guide by Jilly Pertwee can be located at : http://www.warmfireplace.com
With the right technique fireplace guidance can sometimes be accessed really quickly, if you take your time when carrying out your fireplace research you will certainly not go far wrong, if you would like specialist assistance on items such as vented fireplaces then try and discover a collection of fireplace reviews.
You will see that home improvement listings are a relatively useful source of knowledge on numerous products such as wood fireplace mantel shelfs and wooden fireplace surrounds, these type of directories can be located all over the net.
Consider also when you search this area of interior design that you may be overloaded with a good deal of truly varied research results, such results as outdoor wood burning fireplaces and propane fireplaces may though be very relevant to your needs.
Say you are actually looking for replacement fireplace screens or stone fireplace mantels, it is obvious that these type of products might not be currently available on too many websites, be sure that you employ your PC bookmark function when you make this sort of fireplace targeted internet research, your useful info must be treated with the greatest of care.
With the right method fireplace knowledge might easily be accessed extremely rapidly, if you take your time when implementing your fireplace research and you will not go far wrong, if you need specialized advice on merchandise like ventless gas fireplace inserts then see if you can find a number of expert fireplace reviews.
A large amount of directories will contain specific catalogues focusing on fireplaces, if a consumer should want a free standing fireplace or a arlington fireplace mantel simply locate the most appropriate fireplace section.
With the right technique fireplace guidance can sometimes be accessed really quickly, if you take your time when carrying out your fireplace research you will certainly not go far wrong, if you would like expert assistance on products such as ventless gas corner fireplaces then try and discover a collection of fireplace write ups.
Because of the web, access to a whole lot of fireplace knowledge can give you details on a great selection of fine products, say you want a specialist product, lets say a fireplace insert, you may possibly be smarter searching in a home furnishing or fireplace directory, these will contain specific categories so locating a corn fireplace insert stove, fireplace screeen insert and even a fireproof fireplace rug will never turn out to be a problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author: Free fireplaces guide by Jilly Pertwee can be located at : http://www.warmfireplace.com
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