Fireplaces may make a room feel cozy, but they don’t usually add a lot of real heat. If you want to use your fireplace for heating, think about adding a fireplace insert. It adds heating capability and efficiency almost immediately.
Fireplace inserts in Alpharetta are available for burning wood, wood pellets, or gas.
The Right Fit
The first step is to make sure you get the right size. When you measure the opening of your fireplace, measure from side to side and from top to bottom. If the top of your fireplace mouth has an arch, you’ll need to take three vertical measurements: one on each side and one in the center.
Wood or Gas?
Once you decide you want an insert, you have to decide which type you want. You’ll enjoy greater efficiency and improved heating from your fireplace with either type.
Wood Inserts
If you are looking for the most heat and have access to plenty of wood, then a wood burning insert is the way to go. It will not only heat things up, but will also help you save money on heating costs.
There is nothing quite like a real wood fire. The sight, smell, and sound a wood burning insert produces are often the deciding factors in choosing a wood insert.
Pellet Inserts
A pellet insert uses pellets of wood for fuel, fed to the fire by an automated auger. Pellets are available in three grades. Top-of-the-line pellets, which produce less ash, are hardwood, while the lower end are pine. They require electricity to operate, but many models have a battery back-up feature to keep them in operation in the event of a power outage.
Gas Inserts
Some homeowners don’t have access to wood. Others find it too expensive or too messy, so they seek a gas insert. These are available in direct vent or vent-free models. Direct vent units have a glass panel, while a vent-free insert will be open to the room and uses the room’s air for combustion.
One advantage gas inserts have over wood burning models is the ability to control the fire with a remote control. For some people, this convenience is the deciding factor.
Venting
Fireplace inserts require proper venting using a flexible stainless steel liner that runs from the top of the insert to the top of your chimney. There are a variety of different types and prices. You can find a stainless steel chimney liner in Kennesaw. If you aren’t a handyman with experience in this type of project, you may want to consider hiring someone to handle the chimney liner installation in Marietta. Before you vent your new fireplace insert, you may need to contact a company that does chimney repair in Alpharetta, GA, or contact a chimney sweep in Alpharetta GA to save time and hassle later.
A Good Investment
Choosing a fireplace insert can take a little time, but the result will be rewarding once you turn that drafty fireplace into a beautiful efficient heat source and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate in front of the fire on a cold evening.
Get the Right Type of Insert
There are 4 basic types of fireplace inserts:
- Wood-burning inserts provide an effective, even heat source that can take over as your primary heat source for your whole house. Of course, the wood itself can get expensive, so it’s a good idea to choose this option if you have constant access to free or low-cost wood.
- Pellet fireplace inserts in Alpharetta use pellets made out of compressed sawdust, agricultural or foresting waste, and other sustainable wood sources. The pellets themselves are more expensive than wood, but they’re effective at creating a hot fire and don’t have to be tended as often as wood-burning inserts.
- Gas inserts are more convenient than wood- or pellet-burning inserts because you don’t have to constantly load fuel. However, it can be pricey to run them constantly, and many people find the artificial flames less appealing than the real thing. On the other hand, they often have more adjustable settings.
- Although not usually a practical option, there are also electric fireplace inserts. If you don’t want to worry about venting or your Marietta, GA, chimney leaks when it rains, electric inserts give you a contained system that requires little to no venting. Some people use electric hybrid inserts if they only have access to fuel at certain times during the year.
Fit Your Existing Fireplace
You can install an insert into most fireplaces, since they come in a variety of sizes. Your contractor can help you choose one that will fit snugly and work around other structures like your chimney rain cap in Marietta, Georgia. Installation typically takes 1 to 2 days, depending on what type of insert you install. Gas inserts are usually the most complicated, because they often involve venting as well as gas line placement.
Know Your Venting Options
One factor that may determine which type of insert you can install is the available venting. Pellets and gas stoves don’t require as much venting as wood-burning inserts. Most can be vented out of an existing chimney, but it may be more complicated if you only have a small chimney or don’t have one at all. While things like chimney caps shouldn’t affect your chimney’s venting, be sure to check with your contractor while choosing your insert.
Utilize Custom Features
Many fireplace inserts give you control over how hot your fire burns and other customizable features. If this sort of control is important to you, be sure to explore all your options while you’re shopping. For example, many inserts can be connected to your thermostat to automatically adjust the temperature as needed. You can even get inserts that allow you to adjust the flame size. Gas and electric inserts are the easiest to customize and most come with life-like logs to give the room a more authentic appearance.
See-Through Fireplaces
The name says it all with this style of fireplace. A see-through fireplace is one that can serve as a divide between two rooms, and when wood is burning within the fireplace you can view and enjoy it from both sides of the chimney. These fireplaces typically utilize a glass frame, especially for more modern design styles, which keeps the view exposure free for you to enjoy in multiple rooms of your home while still carefully containing the flames and any soot from the fire itself. This is a sophisticated touch that will add something elegant and homey to any work or living space.
Iconic Fireplaces
Perhaps when you envision the perfect fireplace, you think of marble columns and a large sitting room centerpiece that embodies traditional elegance? The Icon Series type of fireplace gives you the option to choose a raised hearth, or to have your fireplace installed flush to the floor. The quality of the production, materials, design, and installation give this type of fireplace the feeling of artisan craftsmanship but at a fraction of the cost that it would take to install a traditional fireplace. This is the fireplace for die hard traditionalists who don’t want to empty their entire wallet but still want an elegant, quality fireplace.
Accelerator Fireplaces
This black grated fireplace option is sure to give a taste of modern flair to any room. It can be paired with a wide range of trim styles, colors, and materials, making this fireplace choice highly customizable to whatever the needs are of the room where you’re installing it. This fireplace insert style also comes in either a heat circulating version for maximum home heating, or in a radiant version for a more aesthetic appeal. Sleek modernism and accessorizing capabilities come together in this design, giving that much more for you to love in your new fireplace.
Element Fireplaces
If you’ve ever thought that your house would never quite be a home without a fireplace, and yet you’ve struggled to find a balance between aesthetic appeal and affordability in finding a fireplace, the Element wood burning fireplace insert is an excellent alternative. It is a highly affordable fireplace option, with a sleek contemporary design that can work well in a wide variety of room styles. It is also built to be as user friendly and easy on maintenance as possible, with the daily use of the owner in mind. The Element fireplace style is a choice that can’t be beat in terms of affordability and quality.
Contact Us Today!
In conclusion, there are a wide variety of fireplace insert styles available to you. Not only that, but each style has customizable options that can help make it the perfect for your home or office, down to the finest detail. The enduring dream of an extravagant fireplace is within your reach with fireplace inserts, and they make it possible to purchase fireplace inserts in Alpharetta without having to empty your wallet to do so.