Maintain Your Fireplace Ambiance, and Boost the Heat, With a Fireplace Insert!

On a frigid Elm Grove day, nothing “warms” up a space (metaphorically speaking) like a blazing fireplace. The light, sound and movement all combine for a romantic, relaxing ambiance.

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

Ready to make your fireplace experience safer, far warmer and more comfortable with a sleek, highly-efficient fireplace insert in Elm Grove!

Going directly into the fireplace opening, a fireplace insert for a woodburning fireplace is a self-contained appliance that propels heat directly into a room, rather than losing most through a chimney. The fire can be seen via a glass panel. The ambiance remains – along with far more warmth!

Homeowners can select between gas fireplace inserts and wood fireplace inserts. Both are offered by Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Elm Grove. 

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 broad array of designs, gas fireplace inserts are fast, clean, and little work to operate and maintain.

A woodburning fireplace insert produces significantly more heat than gas. The work required is much greater, though. A fire has to be physically started, wood added, and air controls adjusted to control the blaze. Because it burns so efficiently, a wood fireplace insert consumes much less timber than an open-hearth setup. For those with unlimited or cheap sources of firewood in Elm Grove, a wood burning insert can be significantly heating source for a home.

The choice between gas or woodburning is completely user preference. Many Elm Grove homeowners proactively put in insert-style fireplaces for greater heat and cleanliness, often when building homes.

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

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

Smoke is exhausted through a new stainless steel liner installed 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 Elm Grove 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 ponder a fireplace insert? Contact Butler Chimneys. You’ll appreciate the ambiance of a fireplace … and a far warmer, more comfortable space around you!