How a Fireplace Insert Can Save You Money
You can see many wood, pellet and gas fireplace inserts in our huge, newly remodeled showroom. Maybe it’s time that you stopped letting heat go up your chimney and switched to a more efficient fireplace insert that can fit right into your existing fireplace opening.
While fireplaces were originally used to heat homes, the heat output of a traditional masonry fireplace doesn’t live up to our standards of comfort today. Even with a crackling fire blazing in the hearth, you may not notice a significant improvement in the room’s temperature. This is because only about 10% of the heat produced by a normal fireplace is radiated into your home the rest escapes up the chimney. Zero-clearance fireplaces are similarly inefficient as traditional fireplaces and both can be replaced with a modern fireplace insert.
If you’ve ever sat beside an unused fireplace in the middle of a harsh Wisconsin winter, you might have even noticed a draft of chilly air coming from the hearth. Another disadvantage of a typical fireplace or a first generation zero-clearance fireplace is that air from the outside can leak into your residence forcing your central heating and cooling system to work harder to keep your home at your ideal temperature.
Fortunately, fireplace inserts were created to solve these problems.
A fireplace insert is an attractively designed heating appliance that fits inside the mouth of a masonry or zero-clearance fireplace with a pipe that runs through the existing chimney to vent combustion by-products. Engineered to be both environmentally and economically friendly, it significantly reduces the production of combustion by-products (such as ash, creosote, and smoke) and generates more heat while using less fuel. Fireplace inserts today increase the efficiency of a standard fireplace by 60 to 70 percent depending on the model and fuel type. These improvements have two primary money saving advantages for homeowners.
1. Decreasing Heating & Cooling Bills Year Round
You can immediately begin reducing your utilities bills, even during the hottest month of summer, by having a fireplace insert professionally installed. A fireplace insert—with its glass doors, improved venting system, and tightly fit firebox—prevents hot and cool air from escaping which means your central heating and cooling system won’t have to work as hard to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home. It also puts an end to drafts of outside air sweeping down the chimney.
2. Transforming Your Fireplace into a Viable Alternative Heat Source
You can turn down your thermostat and save money during Wisconsin’s harsh winters without sacrificing your comfort by investing in a fireplace insert. Along with radiating more heat than a traditional fireplace, a fireplace insert also has fans that blow warm air from the fire into your living space. You can effectively heat large areas of your home with a gas, pellet, wood or electric fireplace insert. Depending on the size and model that you choose, you can use it to zone-heat a spacious living area or an entire floor. Another attractive benefit is that many models allow you to control the heat output through a built-in thermostat or remote control. If wood is your preferred fuel, you will also enjoy being able to make less trips out to the wood pile. The high efficiency of an insert means that one load of wood will burn significantly longer.
The cost saving advantages of a fireplace insert make it a smart investment for homeowners. If you have never felt the difference that a fireplace insert can make, stop by Burlington Fireplace & Heating’s Showroom. We have a variety of fireplace inserts on display so that you can see for yourself how one of these easy-to-use heating appliances could improve the performance of your fireplace. Our friendly staff would be happy to answer any of your questions or share information about the value of each different type of insert.