Looking to save money on heating – consider a fireplace insert

If you like the idea of watch the dancing flames in your fireplace but not so thrilled with the idea that a traditional fireplace can be a lot of work and you often end up with one warm room and lot or cold rooms in the rest of your home, you might want to consider a fireplace insert.

What’s a fireplace insert?

A fireplace is usually a steel or cast iron ‘box’ designed to be installed right into in an existing fireplace (either masonry or steel). Often built with glass doors to allow you to enjoy the beauty of the flames, but providing increased energy over an older open fireplace. Fireplace inserts are very adaptable and designs are available that can burn fuels ranging from traditional wood to natural gas, propane, pellets or coal, 

How does a fireplace insert increase energy efficiency?

• Older fireplaces with their open design can’t control the amount of air getting into the fire and as a result the fire often burns quickly and most of the heat generated actually goes up the chimney, rather than into the house. Open fireplaces generally have an energy efficiency rating of between 5% and 10% because of this inherent design inefficiency.
• Fireplace inserts however, utilize and closed design that controls the amount of air entering the firebox meaning the fire will burn slower and less heat will escape up the chimney. When combined with their closed glass doors they can produce energy efficiency ratings of over 60%. Resulting in savings that go right into your pocket as a result of lower fuel costs.

Any other reasons why I should consider a fireplace insert?

• Modern fireplace inserts (even wood burning ones) produce virtually no particulate matter that ends up in the air. Since they are so clean burning everyone (both inside and outside the house) benefits from breathing cleaner air.
• Plus, one of the downsides of a fire is the need to haul in wood and take away the ashes. Installing an insert that uses gas allows you to have a log set that mimics the appearance of a log fire, but without any of the hassles and dirt in your home.

All sounds great, what does it cost to get a fireplace insert?

• Unfortunately they aren’t inexpensive. A good fireplace insert will cost in the range of $1200 and $2000 (or even higher if your opt for add ons like gold or brass doors or a blower to move the heat from the insert to other parts of your home). In addition, fireplace inserts should be professionally installed and that will likely cost between $500 and $2000 depending on your existing home design.

Won’t that mean it takes forever to get my money back?

• Not necessarily. Home experts suggest that fireplace inserts actually reduce the cost of heating a home by 20% to 40%. Depending on what it now costs you to heat your home, you could actually start to see some real savings in as little as three or four years.

Obviously everyone’s situation is unique. However, the HBPA (Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association) website contains an online guide to fireplace inserts as well as a fuel efficiency calculator to help determine if a fireplace insert is right for you and also estimate your own potential cost savings. http://www.hpba.org/index.php?id=27)

Murray Anderson is an experienced freelance writer over 500 articles published on the web as well as in print magazines and newspapers in both the United States and Canada. He writes on a wide range of topics and is a regular contributor to DoItYourself.com. He can be contacted at murand@lycos.com.