9 Ways to Enjoy Your Home Fireplace More
A fireplace is meant to be enjoyed. If that’s not happening at your house, help is on the way. You may need to crank up the fun, make fire-building and management easier, or get a fireplace upgrade. Which of these three types of fireplace issues best applies to your situation? No matter because there are ways to turn things around, regardless. Some solutions might be simple, and others are more of an investment. In the end, with the following tips, you can finally get all the pleasure out of your fireplace that you might have ever imagined.
Enjoying Your Fireplace As-Is
If your fireplace works well and looks great but the family still isn’t gathering around warm fires in winter, these tips could help:
1. Create an environment around the fireplace that’s irresistibly cozy. This might involve situating a comfy chair and reading lamp near the fire. A bear rug in front of the hearth may seem cliché, but it could be your vision for the enjoyment of a fireplace.
2. Use a fireplace popcorn popper or roast chestnuts to get the family interested in gathering around the fire. Create further attraction with the fresh scent of citrus by tossing lemon peel or orange peel into the flames.
3. Set up a chess board near the hearth and store the family’s other favorite board games close by, as well. Install a video gaming system in the vicinity, if that’s what it takes to involve the whole family around the fireplace. Keep in mind that there should be at least 3 feet around a hearth that is kept clear of combustible items at all times.
Simplify Building Wood Fires
Wood fires aren’t known for being convenient. It could be that the hassle involved with building a fire is discouraging use of your wood-burning fireplace. The following tips can help:
1. Keep all fire-building supplies ready at hand, including a newspaper for tinder, small twigs for kindling, logs of various sizes, and long matches. The firewood should be seasoned, which means it has a low moisture content.
2. Make sure the ashes are cleaned out of the firebox whenever needed, to ensure that the fire gets required air.
3. Invest in fireplace tools that provide you with everything necessary to manage a fire. The basics include tongs, a poker, a shovel, and a fireplace broom. You may also want to get a bellows, which is used to provide a fire with a powerful blast of air.
Upgrade your Fireplace
If you are environmentally conscientious, you may avoid using your fireplace because most of the heat goes up the chimney; or perhaps the style is just too outdated to enjoy. Ideas for upgrading your fireplace follow:
1. Have a fireplace insert installed inside your existing masonry or factory-built fireplace. An insert will transform the fireplace so that it functions more like a wood stove. The efficiency rating will improve to between 70% and 85% instead of a dismal 10% at most.
2. Call on chimney professionals to provide a custom surround for a complete fireplace makeover. The amazing options available today guarantee that you can get a fireplace of your dreams on practically any budget.
3. Perhaps you rarely, if ever, find time to deal with a wood-burning fire. You may be able to get your fireplace converted to a gas-fueled appliance. Chimney experts can help you explore your options, based on details about your existing unit.
Contact Chimney Specialists
For a fireplace remodel, fireplace cleaning, a new linear gas fireplace, and all your chimney and hearth-related needs, contact the friendly chimney experts at Chimney Specialists in Highland, WI. If Dubuque, Iowa, is more convenient for you, visit our sister store, Dubuque Fireplace & Patio. Either way, you can look forward to friendly service from a professional. Call Dubuque Fireplace & Patio at (563) 582-5156 or Chimney Specialists in Wisconsin at (608) 929-4887 today.
