Keep Your Fireplace Ambiance, and Heighten its Warmth, With a Fireplace Insert!

On a frosty Ottawa day, nothing “warms” up a space (metaphorically speaking) like a roaring fireplace. The light, sound and movement all mix 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 draws 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 Ottawa!

Inserted directly into the fireplace opening, a fireplace insert for a woodburning fireplace is a self-contained appliance that sends heat directly into a room, rather than losing most through a chimney. The fire is visible through 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 Ottawa. 

Which fireplace insert is for you?

 

A gas insert is custom-made for those who want immediate, low-maintenance fire. The fire literally turns on at the flip of a switch. Available in a broad array of designs, gas fireplace inserts are fast, clean, and minimal work 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 ignited, wood added, and air controls adjusted to moderate the blaze. Because it burns so effectively, a wood fireplace insert uses much less timber than an open-hearth design. For those with unlimited or cheap access to firewood in Ottawa, a wood burning insert can be significantly heating source for a home.

The choice between gas or woodburning is completely user preference. Many Ottawa homeowners proactively put in insert-style fireplaces for enhanced 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 bypass 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 highly efficient heat conduction. Fire is completely enclosed within, seen 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 delivering air to the firebox, and another for expelling gases.

Butler Chimneys typically installs fireplace inserts – gas or wood – in homes in Ottawa 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 permit homeowners to bypass costly chimney repairs that would otherwise be needed to ensure safe venting of fireplace gases.

Another benefit 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 enjoy the ambiance of a fireplace … and a far warmer, more comfortable space around you!