Maintain Your Fireplace Ambiance, and Increase its Warmth, With a Fireplace Insert!

On a frigid Lake Forest 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 barely warms a room. Up to 90 percent of the fire’s heat escapes through the chimney. An open fire actually sucks more heat out of a space than it could ever return. Homeowners run a fire risk from airborne sparks landing on combustible surfaces, as well.

Ready to make your fireplace experience safer, far warmer and more Transform it with a sleek, highly-efficient fireplace insert in Lake Forest!

Inserted 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 up a chimney. The fire can be seen through a glass panel. The ambiance stays – along with far more warmth!

Homeowners can select between gas fireplace inserts and wood fireplace inserts. Both are available from Butler Chimneys, your fireplace and chimney inspection company in Lake Forest. 

Which fireplace insert is for you?

 

A gas insert is perfect 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 little effort to operate and maintain.

A woodburning fireplace insert creates significantly more heat than gas. The work involved is much greater, though. A fire has to be physically lit, 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 design. For those with unlimited or cheap access to firewood in Lake Forest, a wood burning insert can be significantly heating source for a home.

The choice between gas or woodburning is completely user preference. Many Lake Forest homeowners proactively add insert-style fireplaces for greater heat and cleanliness, often when designing homes.

The alternative situation for adding an insert is when a fireplace inspection discovers cracked or missing flue tiles. Installing a brand-new insert will get around many issues, and is often less costly than doing 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 exhausted 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 delivering air to the firebox, and another for exhausting gases.

Butler Chimneys regularly installs fireplace inserts – gas or wood – in homes in Lake Forest 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 avoid pricey 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 look into a fireplace insert? Contact Butler Chimneys. You’ll enjoy the ambiance of a fireplace … and a far warmer, more comfortable space around you!