Fireplace Inserts
Burning a wood fire in the brick and concrete firebox of your fireplace is often one of the favorite moments in family life. When you send the kids out to get the wood and then dad gets to demonstrate his manliness by getting the fire lit and encouraging it until it is a stable and crackling fire can be a fun activity for a winter's day that warms the room and encourages family time around the fire that evening. You may have cherished memories growing up of times in front of the fire, watching a family movie and enjoying the gentle warmth and friendly fire sounds coming from the firebox of your fireplace.
Inserts that go into the firebox take something good and make it great. For one thing, in an older house or if you have a lot of fires in your fireplace, the firebox can get run down, fall into disrepair or look grungy. An insert is usually a solid metal piece that can slide right into the firebox using the space but creating a new environment for your fireplace fires, one that is far more efficient than the old fashioned firebox.
The added efficiency that a fireplace insert gives you is so compelling that it is worth taking a look at adding one to your brick fireplace sooner rather than later. For one thing, an insert is a great way to convert a wood only fireplace to a gas fireplace. The insert itself will have all of the technology in it to bring in a gas hook up and have you switching to gas completely in no time. Or you can simply buy an insert that enables you to use electric or gas starters thus eliminating the mess of trying to start a wood fire with newspapers or fire starting logs.
Inserts solve one of the biggest problems of a natural fireplace and that is the dispersal of heat. When you light a fire, you want to see the heat in that firebox sent out into the room to warm your guests and family. Since most inserts are metal, they project the heat out of the firebox more efficiently. And you can buy an insert with built in fans that can be used to send the heat only into the room without sending embers or smoke with the heat. Your fireplace becomes more efficient and more enjoyable at the same time.
There are a lot of varieties of inserts for fireplaces to choose from. Some are double walled to capture the heated air between the layers, which is then made available to the fans. Some have glass doors along with built in metal grid curtains so you can get rid of that cumbersome fireplace screens. The addition of fireplace doors that are already attached to the insert gives you the ability to seal off the fire from the room entirely which is safer and more efficient while still using the fans to pass the heated air to the home.
These are just a few of the great reasons to take a look at adding an insert to your fireplace scheme. With some shopping, you will find the style and design of insert that fits your desires and needs for your fireplace. And while there will be some cost to the purchase and installation, it will be worth it to take all the good your fireplace adds to your family life and make it that much better with the addition of an insert for your fireplace.