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The warm glow of a fire emanating
from your wood fireplace on a cold winter night sounds romantic and inviting,
and for the few hours that it is actually burning it may even make you feel
warmer. However the cold facts are that a wood burning fireplace is extremely
inefficient and you are letting more heat up the chimney than you are warming
the house. And even worse, after the fire peters out, the chimney will continue
to suck warm air out of your home.
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Fortunately there are ways to make a
fireplace more efficient so that you can enjoy the warm glow of your fireplace
and even get some heat out of it, without throwing money up your fireplace
chimney.
Steps on How to Make a Fireplace More Efficient
Close Fireplace Damper
First, when you are not using the
fireplace make sure the fireplace damper is closed. Leaving the fireplace damper
open allows warm air to be sucked up and out of the home via the fireplace
chimney.
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Install
Fireplace Glass Doors
Second, install fireplace glass
doors over the front of the fireplace box opening. There are numerous glass
fireplace doors that you can choose from that are designed to fit most
standard sized fireplace box openings. By installing fireplace glass doors,
you can dramatically improve your fireplace’s heating efficiency. First, by
keeping the fireplace doors closed when the fireplace is not in use, or when
the fire is nearly out, you can prevent warm house air from escaping the
home.
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Second, most fireplaces have a cold
air vent for drawing in fresh outside air to feed the fire, so when the fire has
begun to die down you can close the fireplace glass doors and allow the fire to
slowly burn out.
Note that when you have a roaring fire in the fireplace or many hot coal embers,
leave the fireplace glass doors open, but with the protective screen closed.
Fireplace glass doors are not meant to withstand repeated high heat exposures.
If they are continuously exposed to high heat, they will eventually crack. |
Photo by Mark Donovan |
Install a Cast
Iron Fireback
Third, install a cast iron fireback in the back of your fireplace box. A cast
iron fireback not only protects the back masonry of your fireplace, but also
absorbs heat and helps to reflect fire light and heat out into the room.
Finally, you can maximize your fireplace’s efficiency by installing a wood
burning insert. Though installing a wood burning insert is admittedly quite
expensive, it is by far the best way to maximize your fireplace’s efficiency. A
wood stove by design is simply much more energy efficient than a fireplace.
There are many types of wood stove inserts to choose from and many offer glass
windows for viewing the fire. By installing a wood burning insert into your
fireplace with a glass front you can make your fireplace more efficient while at
the same time still maintaining the fireplace’s warm glow and charm.
So before you let any more heat up your chimney consider improving your
fireplace’s efficiency with one or more of these tips.
For information on maximizing a
wood stove’s home heating efficiency see
the “Installation
of Hood over Wood Stove Ebook”.
Find a Pre-Screened Heating Contractor in Your Area
Fireplace Glass Doors and Wood Burning Inserts
from Amazon.com
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