subject: Explaining Wood Burning Fireplace Inserts For Your Home [print this page] Wood burning fireplace inserts turn inefficient fireplaces into true heat producing devices, with the body of the burning chamber inside the fireplace rather than sitting out in the room. The hearth and the existing fireplace surround are all the heat protection needed to satisfy safety requirements.
When installing a free-standing wood stove, the building code regulations must be followed, with fireproof shielding on floors and walls and a regulated amount of air space and clearance; consequently the stove protrudes into the living space. A stove's hot surfaces may be dangerous for children, and some people dislike the look of stovepipes running to a vent in the wall.
Setting an insert into a fireplace means that the firebox is inside the wall, not out in the room. The smoke goes up the chimney, so there are no visible stovepipes visible. The existing hearth and fireplace surround will probably be adequate heat protection for the walls and floor, and only the front surface is exposed.
Inserts are more than just glass doors that close the fireplace opening off. An insert is a firebox that is set inside the fireplace, using the chimney as a smoke vent and blowers to get the hot air out into the room. Inserts are more airtight than fireplaces, with some models rivaling the efficiency of the best free-standing stoves.
These glass door assemblies are not really inserts. Inserts have a burning chamber or firebox that can be made airtight to burn wood more efficiently and to regulate how hot it burns. The heat does not radiate very much, since the fire is in the fireplace, so inserts are equipped with blowers to circulate hot air out into the room and draw cold air in to fan the flames.
In addition, the insert stops the loss of heat from a room while the fire is beginning to burn and while it is smoldering before going out. These times of inside heat loss make a fireplace an actual negative force in heating. An insert will keep the warm inside air from rising up the chimney, and the air intake valves can be opened to help ignite new fuel and then closed as much as is needed to prevent overheating and to conserve wood. Fireplace inserts can be loaded and operated so that heat can be produced all night long without adding more wood.
Wood burning fireplace inserts, like other form of heating, need to be installed and operated properly, but many homeowners realize the pleasures and economy of heating with wood by converting their fireplaces to wood stoves.
