Building and using a fireplace in your home adds ambiance and heat to your home. When you want to enjoy a fireplace and a lower electricity bill that can come with it during the winter, here are some tips to help you make your home fireplace more efficient in heating your living space.
Heat Circulation Grate
A heat circulation grate is one of the most effective tools to add to a wood burning fireplace to circulate heat into your living space. This insert consists of a blower that pulls air from your room on one side of your fireplace cover, circulates it through the fireplace, and blows it back into the room out the other side of the cover.
You can install your circulation grate onto a room thermostat to switch the blower on and off automatically to adjust the room's temperature. As long as fireplace has hot coals, the blower will continue to circulate warm air into your living space.
Glass Doors
If your fireplace is covered with only a metal screen that prevents embers from popping out of the fireplace, you should add a glass fire door over the opening of your fireplace. A tempered glass or ceramic door over the opening of your fireplace can allow heat from your fire to enter the room. Then, because the glass blocks any air flow from being sucked up and out your chimney, the heat stays in your living space.
Be sure you get a glass door that fits snugly against the fireplace opening so its edges are sealed to keep any heat from escaping. Then, keep the glass door closed when you are using your fireplace to get the most from it.
Fireback
One of the most simple additions you can add to your fireplace, is a fireback, or a cast iron or metal place that fits onto the stone inside your fireplace. This metal sheet can help to reflect and redirect the heat back into the room instead of traveling up your chimney. It can also help to protect the stone lining the back of your fireplace and prevent heat damage that can occur over time.
Fireplace Insert
A fireplace insert can be installed to fit directly into your fireplace opening and replaces your having to build a fire with wood, kindling, or newspaper. Your fireplace insert can fueled with gas or propane and has faux wood logs around which the flames burn to make it look as realistic as possible.
With this type of fireplace addition, you don't have to clean up any ashes or worry about feeding the fire, and it is all positioned behind a glass door. Then, you can start and stop your fire by flipping a switch on the insert.
Use these tips to increase the efficiency of your home's fireplace.
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