What’s the Best Size of Fireplace for Your Home?

Choosing the right size of fireplace or stove for your home is important for a couple of reasons. You want to make sure there’s room for the new appliance, and you want to purchase the size that will heat your room or space optimally.

Felgemacher has been helping homeowners throughout Buffalo, NY, and Rochester, NY, find the perfect new fireplaces and stoves since 1953. Here are some things to consider when shopping.

Space in your Room

Manufactured fireplaces are set into an existing wall. If your wall space is limited, you’ll want a unit in a size that fits comfortably and safely. A venting chase will need to be built on the other side of the wall from the fireplace, so there has to be room for that, too.

Heating stoves are free-standing and can be placed anywhere in a room as long as there’s a way to run the vent pipe to the outside of the house. Stoves come in a variety of sizes and design styles, so be aware of how much free space your room will have for one before you buy.

Fireplace inserts go inside an open masonry firebox. When buying an insert, make sure it will fit.

Heating Capacity

Fireplaces and stoves feature a range of BTU outputs and heat-efficiency ratings. Ideally, you’ll want to work with a fireplace shop or fireplace installer when choosing a new appliance to ensure it meets your heating expectations.

When deciding on the right size of fireplace or stove, take these factors into consideration:

• The overall square footage of the room
• Ceiling height
• Quality of wall and roof insulation
• Windows and doors in the room
• Open archways leading to other rooms

Generally, the larger the appliance, the more heat it will produce, but you still want to look at BTU numbers as you shop and compare. Fireplaces and stoves on the market today are available in sizes and heat outputs that can comfortably heat rooms from 500 square feet to 2,200 square feet and even higher in some cases.

Don’t Use your Masonry Fireplace as a Benchmark

You may have a very large masonry fireplace and yet get very little heat from it. If you use it as your benchmark in buying a new fireplace, you might start thinking you’ll need a unit as big as a refrigerator.

Fortunately, that’s not the case. Masonry fireplaces run on an open system that allows the majority of the heat they produce (as much as 90%) to be lost right up the chimney.

Today’s fireplaces, stoves and fireplace inserts use a closed-combustion system that retains 70% or more of their heat and makes it available to your room.

Shop Top Brands

When buying a new heating appliance, it’s always smart to go with proven fireplace brands.

Enviro, Pacific Energy, Hargrove, American Hearth and Simplifire are examples of manufacturers whose products have stood the test of time and are popular for their beauty, efficiency and heating capacities.

Visit our Hearth Store

If you want to learn more about sizing and other elements of a new fireplace or stove, we invite you to visit Felgemacher’s hearth store at 2727 Broadway, Suite 5, in Cheektowaga, NY. We’ll help you select the model in the right size and with all the features you love most.

You can also speak with a fireplace expert by phone or get in touch through our online contact form.