Only burn tinder (such as pine needles or tiny sticks), kindling (small sticks or pinecones), and fuel (large logs, up to about 14” long). Fresh wood will burn inefficiently and produce an overwhelming amount of smoke. You can expect to retain upwards of 70 percent of the heat generated. Warm air in the home is sucked into this flow and out of your home. STEP 3: Open the Damper Featured in news stories on CBS, in Time, Scientific American, New York Times. Heat is evenly distributed through the home without the use of ductwork or forced air. This will impact the heat and efficiency of your fireplace. Discover how easy it is to start and maintain a hotter fire. If you want to use your fireplace heater to warm part of your house, consider its recommended heating capacity. puff-backs, which can coat your room in filthy soot. This fan keeps an efficient flow of warmth circulating through your room. These drawbacks often mean your choice comes down to whether or not your home can support the installation of a vented fireplace. If you are feeling ill or would prefer to reschedule, please contact our office and we will work with you to push back your appointment. Gas inserts can be installed in almost any home, so don't feel like you can't upgrade or change your existing fireplace! By Katelin Hill and Bob Vila. The draft should reverse after a few minutes, making your fireplace ready for action. Each type of fireplace has a different energy efficiency rating, measured by the amount of heat the fireplace produces that is lost. Having your fireplace located on the main floor in a centralized location optimizes heat. Some experts recommend using andirons instead of a grate, so that logs to drop onto the bed of coals where they burn more efficiently [source: Carlsen]. But it takes a lot of wood to keep your home warm. Gas options will reward you with much more heat, and can be relatively inexpensive to operate. Heating your house using your fireplace is pretty simple. Enjoy. Operating similarly to a traditional wood-burning fireplace, vented gas fireplaces uses gas logs and at a glance look completely natural. You can choose either hardwood or softwood for the fire; while hardwoods like oak or maple burn longer and create more sustained heat, softwoods like cedar or pine start fires easier because they ignite quickly. In a long-term crisis situation, you might run out of wood before the power comes back on. To help improve the heat output of your wood burning fireplace, sufficient ventilation within the room should be provided to allow for a constant supply of fresh air to the fire. If your home doesn’t have one, a professional can install a new gas fireplace in your home, even in place of an existing wood-burning firebox. It will move either front to back, left to right, or in a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation. Heating your home using your fireplace starts with air flow. On the other hand, there are side-effects that you will experience due to the lack of a vent. Position large pieces of wood in the bottom of the fireplace in one row, perpendicular to the opening of the fireplace. For homeowners looking to zone heat their living rooms, a vented gas fireplace is a great option. While traditional wood-burning fireplaces are popular for their classic look and feel, gas fireplaces continue to be adopted by homeowners worldwide. It’s less efficient than redistributing with ceiling fans, but for smaller, open concept houses, it’s a great way to star warm. Select a mixture of both hardwoods and softwoods. If you’re not using your fireplace regularly, inflatable plugs can stop warm air from going up the chimney when the fireplace is not in use. STEP 2: Gather the Kindling Gather kindling in a variety of sizes (small, medium, and large) for the proper fire-building technique that is outlined below. We did the research to help find you the best gas fireplaces around. If your damper is adjustable, gradually close it as the fire dies down to maintain a draft and limit cold air from coming down. And that's where a direct vent system comes in.'' But when you need to dispose of ashes, proceed with caution. STEP 1: Stay Safe Before bringing out the lighter, it’s vital to understand safety precautions for using a fireplace. If you want to stay nice and toasty without the big costs, why not consider heating your home with a fireplace? chimney services and products in Michigan and Ohio, Common Old Chimney Problems in Aging & Historic Homes, Tips for Buying a New House with a Fireplace, FAQs About Chimney & Fireplaces for Your Home. Example of heat transfer kit from Enerzone Fireplaces: A) Wall thermostat B) 300 CFM blower C) Hot air … A gas fireplace works too, and is more efficient than a wood-burning fireplace. Or, perhaps your wood-burning stove is unusable. We’ll get you set up right away so you can have peace of mind. Make sure the stack takes up no more than half the height of your fireplace. A normal fireplace loses 90% of it's heat through the chimney and installing a new more efficient fireplace can cost thousands of dollars. Only burn natural materials in your fireplace; never introduce foreign substances, including cardboard, newspaper, or paper trash. Use Your Fireplace Fireplaces are notoriously inefficient heat sources, as lots of heat goes up the chimney. When opened, it allows the smoke and ash to travel safely up the chimney. That makes it a survivalist’s number one choice for a back up way to heat your home. Adjust the damper as needed with the handle located inside of the chimney. If left alone long enough, the water from the kettle will begin to steam upward, putting … While there are many ways to accomplish this, the simplest is to use the room in which your fireplace is built. At this time, we will remain open and keep all scheduled appointments. Are you sick of buying gas logs for wood burning fireplaces? By Day Marketing. There is some confusion... Fireplace with … Even if you could generate that much heat with a fireplace, it would be far less efficient than central air due to the distance it would have to travel in your open home. A gas fireplace might be expensive, but it might not meet your needs, you want a fireplace that keeps your living room cosy and warm. With the recent concerns about COVID-19, Doctor Flue has implemented additional measures to ensure the safety and health of our crew and clients. We offer chimney services and products in Michigan and Ohio and can inspect your chimney and identify any potential risks. For these reasons, if your goal is to warm the home using a fireplace, you’ll be better off with another option. You may be able to modify existing vents to … Remove anything flammable within three feet of the fireplace in case stray sparks escape the hearth, and use a fireplace screen as well. However, due to the amount of heat that is pulled out through the chimney in a wood burning fireplace, it can surprisingly decrease the heat in your home. Now add your smallest pieces of wood, making sure these pieces are very dry. An unvented gas fireplace is exactly as it sounds – the heat produced by them goes right back into your home instead of out of a flue. And many houses already have a fireplace. If your home has limitations that prevent a vented fireplace from being installed, you're not out of luck. Direct-vent systems are from 75 to … But in an emergency, you can keep warm by a fire if you have enough wood to burn. If you tend to stick to a few rooms in the house: Keep the furnace fan set to on. If you start a fire with a closed damper, however, the smoke will have no escape route and circle back into the house. That said, unlike central air, no fireplace is going to be able to properly heat your entire home at once. STEP 1: Stay Safe There are two types of gas fireplaces that you can choose from: vented or unvented. Store the container outdoors away from the house, and not in garages or on decks. Copyright © 2020 Acton Media Inc. All rights reserved. Tips for Heating Your Home with a Fireplace #1. During the colder months, nothing beats warming the house with a crackling fire. Coals may take several hours or several days to completely cool, and ash could still be burning during that time. Ventless gas fireplaces are easy to use and very clean, and this makes them a favorite with homeowners in small and large houses. As an added benefit, a fireback also protects the back wall of your firebox from direct flames and the byproducts of combustion! Due to this, unvented fireplaces typically come with monitoring components built-in to help protect your home. Intake air supply from outside. By using your fireplace to heat the room instead of central air, you’re limiting your energy costs to only what it takes to heat that specific room. ''If you want to use your fireplace as a heat source, you have to get a minimum of 70 percent efficiency. As creosote builds up in your chimney, it restricts airflow to your fire. Otherwise, the cold draft may cause smoke to blow into the room. Katelin Hill, Bob Vila, 15 Handy Things You Can Do With Ashes from Your Fireplace, The Dos and Don'ts of Air-Drying Everything You Own, 7 Things You Need to Know Before Painting Your Walls White, 10 Things I Learned from Moving During a Pandemic. In addition to being remotely controllable, vented gas fireplaces are extremely efficient. Select the firewood you want to use in your fireplace. Turn up the gas fireplace. Whatever you don’t use can return to the firewood rack, best stored outdoors in an elevated and covered location. Additionally, they can produce moisture and odors that some homeowners find displeasing. There’s a really awesome alternative out there that’s easy to use and sometimes doesn’t even require a vent. Burn safe materials. Get a Quote for Cleaning, Repair, Replacement, or Rebuild. A--Although they add a nice warm glow to a room, a fireplace, especially a wood-burning fireplace, usually draws more heat out of a home than it adds. STEP 5: Build the Fire While there are multiple ways to build a fire, the CSIA recommends the top-down method, which produces less smoke and requires less tending. Leave a few inches of ash in the firebox to help reflect heat and provide a bed for coals, which radiate heat. While some of them may produce a hot heat, they can introduce dangerous chemicals into your home. Fresh wood will burn inefficiently and produce an overwhelming amount of smoke. You can feel the heat when you are sitting very close, and that is about it. If you feel a rush of cold air (which usually occurs if the chimney is built on the outside of the house), then you need to prime the flue—in order words, you need to preheat it. Check to make sure you opened it properly by sticking your head in the flue and looking upwards, using a flashlight if necessary. It works on heat power alone and doesn't require any electricity or batteries. Much of the heat generated from a wood burning fireplace is lost through the chimney. Added features may be a pizza/bread oven, a heated bench and mantles. A fireplace can be an inviting place to snuggle up when it's cold outside, and it can provide a cozy atmosphere for spending time with friends and family. If you don’t already have one, consider installing a fireplace insert. Not only do you get to enjoy a nice, roaring fire, you’ll also realize substantial savings on your next heating bill! If you turn on the heat to get warm in your living room, and then head to your bedroom to sleep, what use is there in heating every other room in your house? Heating capacity While electric fireplace heaters shouldn’t be your primary source of heat, they can provide an impressive amount of supplementary heat in your home. When you use a wood-burning fireplace, you need to only burn seasoned wood. Call Doctor Flue to schedule a chimney cleaning in Michigan or Ohio. Note: Never burn trash, plastic, painted materials, or anything with chemical treatment like scraps of pressure-treated wood—these materials can release harmful chemicals into your home. 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