Fireplaces add ambiance and style to your home. If you’re planning on installing a open decorative fireplace in you new construction or remodeling project consider adding the important step of choosing the right glass door for your fireplace. This is a step you should take ownership of and not leave it up t0 the builder to supply it. The choices are wide and customizable.
Glass doors.
People commonly think that adding any fireplace to their project will help cut the cost of heating their home. But this isn’t always true, and Hechler’s will show you why. Doors create better heat efficiency and help lower heating bills. Fireplace doors add a measure of safety that is very important. Below are five key benefits of installing glass doors on your fireplace.
1. Increase the heating efficiency.
When you have a roaring fire in your traditional masonry fireplace, how much of the heat do you think spreads out into your room? If you said more than 20%, you’d probably be wrong. Experts know that 80% or more of the heat goes up the chimney, and a mere 10% of the energy from the fire actually becomes heat.
Want to double the efficiency of your fireplace? Install glass doors. At first that may not seem to make sense, but the glass actually absorbs and radiates the heat into the room far better than the air itself conducts heat from the flames of an open fireplace. Enclosing the heat source also results in more overall heat being produced by the firewood.
Decorative fireplace doors can also be added to your existing energy efficient ZC fireplace installation adding a stylish finishing touch that will create the look of a new fireplace.
Lowered heating costs
If you’re concerned about the cost of heating bills (and who isn’t?), you need to understand the value of installing glass fireplace doors, which are much more efficient air barriers than chimney dampers. Fireplaces with open hearths let the warm air inside your home escape during the winter and allow cool air to escape in the summer. It’s a very inefficient deal, like keeping your windows open all year long, regardless of the temperature.
A fireplace covered by handsome doors allows your fireplace to do what you expect it to do: warm your home without having to use expensive gas or electric heat. A proper fireplace setup can save considerable money on utility bills.
Reduction of downdrafts
Sudden downdrafts in a chimney can be more than just a pain – they can be dangerous. Winter storms coupled with air paths within a home can cause wind to shoot down the chimney and blow both smoke and embers into the room. Glass fireplace doors virtually eliminate the problems caused by downdrafts.
Safety
If you have small children or pets, the last thing you want is to have a fire blazing in an open fireplace. Animals are curious, and little children can be clumsy (and curious). Glass doors on your fireplace make for an inexpensive and secure safeguard against potential serious injury. Fireplace screens, while not as efficient or attractive as glass doors, will at least provide a measure of safety.
Beauty
Aside from better heating efficiency and safety, glass fireplace doors bring a touch of class to any room. With so many styles to choose from, it’s not hard to turn your open fireplace into a truly elegant amenity that friends and family will enjoy for years to come.
United Fireplace & Stove, with more than 150 locations across North America, is committed to helping homeowners beautify their indoor living spaces with highly efficient gas, wood-burning and electric fireplaces. Go here to find a fireplace & hearth store near you.
