A Few Fabulous Ways to Upgrade your Fireplace

When it’s cold outside, a fireplace might have high value for the cozy ambiance it brings or it may cause frustration for the minimal heat it provides. During the rest of the year, a fireplace’s structural flaws or outdated appearance may become apparent. It’s possible, however, to enjoy your fireplace year-round by boosting its eye appeal and/or its capacity for providing enough heat to lower your utility costs in winter. If you’re ready for a more fabulous fireplace, the following are some tips for a fireplace upgrade.

Ways to Boost the Appearance of a Fireplace

If you’re ready for a fireplace that enhances your décor, there are various ways to boost aesthetics, including the following:

Add Glass Doors

Once the wood fire in your fireplace has burned out for the night or for the season, the appearance of an open hearth isn’t very attractive. Between the charred wood, ashes, and unpleasant odors, your fireplace may become a stinky eyesore when not in use. A simple solution that can help is to add glass doors.

Masonry

Your masonry fireplace can’t last forever without occasional repair and maintenance. At some point, mortar joints need to be replaced and there could be deterioration in the firebox. Get your fireplace ready for the extreme temperatures of winter by scheduling masonry repair with qualified chimney masonry experts. Your fireplace will be safer and look like new again.

Custom Aesthetic Upgrade

Your fireplace can be completely transformed with a new surround. You could choose from faux or real rock, tile, an updated mantelpiece, and many other options. Schedule your fireplace upgrade with skilled technicians.

Tips for Improving Fireplace Efficiency

Thanks to innovations brought on by stringent requirements imposed by the EPA, modern EPA-approved fireplaces are highly efficient. With a traditional masonry fireplace, the best possible efficiency rating is 10%, though that number is reduced further because of air exchanged through the chimney year-round, causing higher utility bills. For better fireplace efficiency, consider the following:

Fireplace Insert

A fireplace insert is a custom-made highly engineered device that is installed inside your masonry or prefab fireplace. Incentives from local, state, and/or federal agencies are sometimes available to offset the cost of an insert because they are very earth-friendly. You use less fuel while getting more heat from the fuel you use, once you switch to an insert. Options for fuel include gas, wood, electricity, and pellets. The most efficient are pellet inserts, though they require some electricity to operate.

Install a Top Damper

Stop losing heated or cooled air from your home through the chimney all year round. Make sure the damper seals properly. You can also add a top damper for even better protection against unnecessarily high utility bills.

Keep your Chimney Well-Maintained

Your fireplace will operate more efficiently if the chimney is kept clear of obstructions. Wood-burning results in creosote deposits in chimney liners. If not cleaned routinely, the creosote can obstruct the chimney draft. An annual chimney inspection is recommended by fire safety experts. Chimney cleaning should be scheduled annually or when at least 1/8” of creosote has built up inside the chimney flue.

Contact Chimney Experts Today

Our certified technicians at Burlington Fireplace & Heating have the training to provide professional chimney masonry repair, masonry rebuilds, chimney liner repair and replacement, chimney inspections, chimney cleaning, and the full range of chimney maintenance and heating appliance installation services. Call Burlington Fireplace & Heating today at 262-763-3522 for the perfect fireplace upgrade.