Can A Fireplace Insert Save Money?
Can a fireplace insert save you money? It’s an intriguing question that is relevant to winter, which is just a couple of months away. You may object and say that you already have a masonry fireplace, which warms your home just fine. The truth is that a lot of heat escapes from a traditional fireplace, heat that could have contributed to lower power bills. Do we have your attention now? Good, read on to find out more.
Fireplace Inserts
If you are unfamiliar with fireplace inserts, they are devices that can be inserted into your hearth to make it more efficient and aesthetically appealing. Fireplace inserts also give you variety; you may want to switch from a wood-burning energy source to a pellet-burning, gas, electric, or even stay with burning wood.
Improved Efficiency from Fireplace Inserts
An unfortunate fact about traditional fireplaces is that they hemorrhage heat through their chimneys. The older the fireplace, the greater the chance of heat escaping. Fireplaces were invented thousands of years ago, so heating costs weren’t an issue at the time. With the modern-day fireplace insert, you get a greater degree of efficiency because they work by fitting into and sealing your traditional fireplace. It also creates more heat and distributes it into your house to a greater degree than your old fireplace, with heat loss as low as twenty percent. All of that translates into more heat and lower heating bills during the winter. Why? Because with less heat lost, you won’t have to use your central heating and thus lower power bills.
Fireplace Inserts Meet Your Fuel Needs
If you are also seeking to cut fuel costs, then fireplace inserts can help you on that front. Because they come in wood burning, pellet burning, gas burning, and electric, you can choose the type of fuel that will be most cost-effective for you. Pellets are made from sawdust and are highly efficient, and gas is clean and easy to use. Electric has the advantage of being the easiest to use and can be used year-round because it’s not actually a fire.
You Will Require Fewer Chimney Repairs with Fireplace Inserts
Your chimney takes a lot of abuse when you use a traditional fireplace. Creosote, a sticky and highly combustible substance, builds up in your chimney every time you burn logs in your fireplace. Your chimney needs to be swept more frequently when you have a traditional fireplace. You can eliminate creosote altogether with a gas-burning or electric fireplace insert.
Fireplace Inserts Are Easy to Take Care Of
You can expect less daily maintenance if you choose to have an insert placed in your traditional fireplace. Because it is a self-contained unit, a fireplace insert makes it easier to collect ashes and brush creosote from inside the insert. The gas and electric variety of fireplace inserts require very little maintenance.
Felgemacher Masonry Can Install Your Fireplace Insert
Let us help you choose the perfect fireplace insert for your home. Contact us in the greater Buffalo, NY, Rochester, NY, or Charlotte, NC. One of our fireplace insert specialists will gladly discuss finding the right insert for you and installing it in your old fireplace.
