subject: When Does A Fireplace Make Your Home Less Warm [print this page] If you see the picture of the perfect American living room in the house, you will find a cozy room that has a couch, recliner and a fireplace burning beautifully. People love to sit by the fireplace watching the flames encircling the logs. Not only does the fireplace add warmth but it adds atmosphere. Unfortunately a fireplace in a home isn't really perfect. There are many issues that make a fireplace very inefficient.
When a fireplace is burning, it radiates warmth into the air around it. But it also creates a current that pulls that air out of your room and up through the chimney. So because warm air is escaping and your fireplace has to work even harder to warm your room. Yes, most chimneys have a damper that supposedly keeps the inside air from getting out and the outside air from coming in. But most are not constructed adequately and the seal around the edges of the damper still allows air to escape.
There are some things you can do to fix this problem. There is a damper that you can buy which is installed at the top of the chimney. This damper acts like a storm door and has a seal so that the air cannot sneak around it. You can aquire such a product online and you can install it yourself if you're comfortable going on top of your roof.
Another option you have is to make your wood burning fireplace into a gas fireplace. You can get a gas fireplace insert which can look just like a regular wood burning fireplace. These heaters come with artificial logs that look just like they're burning. Depending on your home construction and budget, you have several options on how to install and vent the fireplace. Most gas fireplaces use propane or natural gas sources. Many homeowners like this option because they get tired of having to keep cut wood around and disposing of the ashes. A gas fireplace eliminates that need.
You can replace your fireplace with a portable electric heater that looks just like your fireplace. You can buy an electric fireplace heater that includes a fan which can very efficiently heat a whole room quickly. Electric heaters are considered energy efficient. 100% of the electricity that is used is turned into heat and returned back out into the room.
A catch-22 is that the fireplace is normally in the room with the thermostat. The room with the fireplace becomes very warm and the thermostat turns off the heat. This makes rooms in the rest of the home cooler because the fireplace is not heating them. This may cause you to research getting a portable space heater for other rooms in your home.
