The temperature has begun to drop. Soon, the pleasant fall breezes that have you throwing open your windows will drop further, and you will be looking to keep your home and family warm all winter long. With cooler temperatures nearly upon us, fall is the perfect time to install a new fireplace insert. When you install a fireplace insert this fall, you will realize the benefits all winter long.
Increase your home’s efficiency.
While your open-heath fireplace adds a cozy ambiance to your home, it is an inefficient heater. In fact, an open-hearth fireplace sends 90 percent of a fire’s heat up the chimney flue, meaning very little of the fire’s warmth actually reaches your home. With a fireplace insert, you can up your fireplace’s heating efficiency and lower your home-heating bills. Depending on the type of insert you choose, a new fireplace insert will return 60 to 99 percent of your fire’s heat to your home.
Stop your home’s heat loss.
The open flue of an unused open-hearth fireplace sucks the warm air up and out of your home. Even with the damper closed, up to 8 percent of your home’s heat can be lost up the chimney. A fireplace insert closes off that opening and prevents your home from losing warm air up the chimney.
Lower your home-heating bills.
An efficient fireplace insert can decrease your home-heating bills by as much as 40 percent, according to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association. Not only will an insert lower your reliance on your furnace, it also may allow you to turn down you thermostat. Most fireplace are located in the rooms families use the most. Because you have an efficient insert to keep your main living space warm and cozy, you might be able to turn the thermostat for the rest of your home down, so you’re not wasting energy heating empty rooms.
Burn a cleaner fire.
An open-hearth fireplace is a messy appliance. In fact, the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and the EPA all warn against open-hearth fireplaces because of the unhealthy fine particles they release both into the environment and within your home. A fireplace insert seals the fire off from your home’s living spaces, so fine particles from your fireplaces aren’t entering your home. Because inserts burn more efficiently, they also burn more cleanly, releasing dramatically lower amounts of fine particles into the air.
If you’re ready to install a fireplace insert this fall so you can enjoy its many benefits all winter long, call Fluesbrothers Chimney Service today! We can take a look at your fireplace opening, talk to you about your home-heating needs and help you select a fireplace insert that’s right for you! We will prep your chimney and have your fireplace installed and ready for the colder temperatures we’ll soon be experiencing.
