Keep Your Fireplace Ambiance, and Heighten the Heat, With a Fireplace Insert!

On a frostbit Saint Martins day, nothing “warms” up a room (metaphorically speaking) like a roaring fireplace. The light, sound and movement all mix for a romantic, relaxing ambiance.

Unfortunate truth is, an open-hearth woodburning fireplace hardly warms a space. Up to 90 percent of the fire’s heat escapes through the chimney. An open fire actually draws more heat out of a space than it could ever return. Homeowners endure a fire risk from airborne sparks landing on combustible surfaces, as well.

Like to make your fireplace experience safer, far warmer and more comfortable with a sleek, highly-efficient fireplace insert in Saint Martins!

Fitting right into the fireplace opening, a fireplace insert for a woodburning fireplace is a self-contained unit that propels heat directly into a room, rather than sending most through a chimney. The fire is visible through a glass panel. The ambiance remains – along with far more warmth!

Homeowners can choose between gas fireplace inserts and wood fireplace inserts. Both are available from Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Saint Martins. 

Which fireplace insert is for you?

 

A gas insert is ideal for those who want instant, low-maintenance fire. The fire literally goes on at the flip of a switch. Available in a wide selection of designs, gas fireplace inserts are fast, clean, and minimal effort to operate and maintain.

A woodburning fireplace insert generates significantly more heat than gas. The work involved is much greater, though. A fire has to be physically started, wood added, and air controls adjusted to moderate the blaze. Because it burns so effectively, a wood fireplace insert consumes much less timber than an open-hearth setup. For those with unlimited or cheap access to firewood in Saint Martins, a wood burning insert can be additional heating source for a home.

The decision between gas or woodburning is entirely user preference. Many Saint Martins homeowners proactively add insert-style fireplaces for enhanced heat and cleanliness, often when building homes.

The alternative situation for adding an insert is when a fireplace inspection reveals cracked or missing flue tiles. Installing a brand-new insert will bypass many issues, and is often less costly than making repairs. The decision might not be difficult.

Fireplace inserts are made of heavy-gauge sheet steel. The doors are cast iron, which allows highly-effective heat conduction. Fire is completely enclosed within, viewable through ceramic glass, and can be left unattended.

Smoke is expelled via a new stainless steel liner added inside the chimney. Wood fireplace inserts use a single 6-inch liner; gas, two 3-inch liners, one for providing air to the firebox, and another for exhausting gases.

Butler Chimneys typically installs fireplace inserts – gas or wood – in homes in Saint Martins in one day. If the former is added, a new fuel line is run from a gas source elsewhere in the house.

New stainless steel chimney liners have lifetime warranties. Their installation can sometimes allow homeowners to skip expensive chimney repairs that would otherwise be needed to ensure safe venting of fireplace gases.

Another advantage of fireplace inserts? If power goes out, they remain a steady, reliable heat source. In severe weather, they can literally be a lifesaver.

Ready to consider a fireplace insert? Contact Butler Chimneys. You’ll enjoy the ambiance of a fireplace … and a far warmer, more comfortable space around you!