Warm the Heart Today's fireplaces add value, efficiency
As fall approaches and summer draws to an end, more people will be looking for ways to warm up, rather than cool down. And if this winter is anything like the last, the days when warmth is desired will be abundant.
One of the best ways to warm up a home — both literally and visually — is to have a functioning fireplace, according to many industry experts.
“In my opinion, a fireplace is a main focal point of your room, and people enjoy the coziness of a fire,” said Adam Martin, owner of Martin's Sales & Service in Butler.
Martin said a fireplace is perfect to relax around, but the crackling of the fire can add something else — value.
“We see the benefit as something that's not just aesthetic,” said Megan Murphy, vice president of Hearth & Home Furnishings in Zelienople. “But by having a fireplace you add value to the house in terms of resale.”
Murphy's assertion is backed up by the National Association of Realtors, which found each fireplace in a house increases resale value by 12 percent.
Even if a home has a working fireplace, it may still be worthwhile to explore rehabilitating focusing on safety, energy efficiency and aesthetics.
Fireplace inserts, the most common manner of renovating these structures, are also affordable, Murphy said, running between $4,000 and $7,000 for both gas and wood inserts.
Chimney sweeps do more than clean a flue of soot. Russ Dimmitt, director of education for the Chimney Safety Institute of America, says the first place to start in any fireplace restoration is with an inspection by a chimney sweep.“Part of our job is to raise the level of safety in every home we visit,” he said.During every sweep, a chimney sweep performs a visual inspection, checking to see if the chimney lining has been damaged, which would expose bare brick to creosote and other contaminants and combustibles, Dimmitt said.“The brick structure's not designed to withstand those kinds of corrosives,” he added.Cracked terracotta and cracked flue tiles are some of the most common types of damage, Dimmitt said.Another aspect chimney sweeps investigate is whether there's enough clearance from the fire to any combustibles — the carpet, the mantle and the hearth included.Once the chimney and fireplace have been fully inspected, the road is paved to installing a new fireplace, which can have many advantages.
While mankind has been using fire for warmth for hundreds of thousands of years, burning wood to keep the frost away is surprisingly inefficient, according to Martin.“A masonry fireplace that you burn wood in is only 15 to 20 percent efficient,” he said. “When you start that fireplace, it's like opening a window in your home.”What causes this drop in efficiency? Murphy said the chimney itself causes a significant drop, serving as a place for both smoke and heat to escape.To solve this problem, modern-day fireplaces hold an insert, which can burn any sort of fuel, and are around 80 percent efficient, Martin said.The idea is similar to the modern-day wood stove. There are more places for air to enter the combustion process, and the opportunity for convection heating of passing air.Additionally, inserts capture and burn creosote, which is the unburned fuel that settles in the chimney, Martin said.“It's less carbon, less ash going into the atmosphere,” he said. “At the same time, that was lost fuel going up into the air.”Martin added that inserts can burn the same amount of fuel for 10 times as long as a traditional fireplace. Murphy attributes that to the design of an insert, which also has a stainless steel liner.“So instead of them losing the heat up in the chimney, an insert has a blower, so it produces heat more efficiently and slows down consumption as well,” she said.While fireplaces are not standardized — Martin said “every builder built them differently” — it's rare for there to be a fireplace into which an insert won't fit, he said.
Much of the recent developments in fireplace technology have paid attention to efficiency and safety, but that doesn't mean the hearth should be excluded from a remodel, Murphy said.The hearth may have to be updated due to safety issues, according to Martin, who said that hearth extension boards are frequently added to ensure compliance with codes set by the National Fire Protection Association.While those are being put in place — or if the mantle is raised to comply with those codes — it might be the best time to change the fireplace's face.Martin said many homeowners with wood hearths or mantles are interested in changing to a stone or metal material, both to comply with fire codes and to refresh the fireplace's look.Murphy agreed, noting that adding a mantle or updating glass enclosures or doors can refresh the look of a fireplace.“There's lots of unique options in both styles and in finishings,” she said.
