How To Increase Fireplace Efficiency

If your home gets chilly during the winter, your fireplace can serve as a source of additional heat. If you decide to use your fireplace to heat your home, it’s important to make sure it’s working as efficiently as possible. Here are some things you can do to increase your fireplace efficiency.

Add A Fireplace Insert

Fireplace inserts are one of the easiest and quickest ways to make your fireplace warmer and more energy efficient. A fireplace insert is essentially a metal box that is inserted into an existing fireplace. It has an insulated glass front and naturally traps heat, which helps keep your space warmer. You can add an insert to a wood-burning fireplace or you can opt for an electric or gas insert. The advantage of using these types of inserts is that they require far less maintenance and allow you to start a fire just by pushing a button.

Adjust The Damper

You’ll need to keep your damper open while the fire is burning to ensure that smoke flows in and out. However, you don’t want too much hot air to escape from your fireplace either. Because of this, you’ll want to adjust the damper to match the size of the flames, creating a small opening for a small fire. If you have a bottom damper, use that rather than the top damper, as it will pull the warm air out through the room you are trying to heat rather than letting it float upwards. Once the fire has been put out, be sure to close the damper so the heat stays in the room rather than floating away.

Open A Window

If you don’t have a bottom damper, there are other things you can do to pull warm air through the room you are trying to heat. While it sounds counterintuitive, cracking a window close to the fireplace can actually help heat the room by pulling the hot air out instead of letting it float upwards. Be sure to close the doors to rooms you’re not using while the fire is burning.

Burn Dry Wood

If you have a wood-burning fireplace, it is very important to be conscious of the type of wood you are burning. Freshly cut wood contains a lot of moisture, which results in a smoky and inefficient burn. Using dry wood helps your fire burn much more efficiently.

Get Your Fireplace Cleaned Regularly

Some of the problems that cause fireplace efficiency issues are not things you can fix on your own. This is why it is so important to schedule regular fireplace inspections and cleanings. A professional chimney sweep can identify blockages and structural issues that might be preventing your fireplace from running efficiently.

Chimney Specialists Inc. offers chimney inspection, cleaning, and repair services in southwest Wisconsin, north Illinois, and east Iowa. If your chimney is due for repair or inspection, give us a call at (608)-929-4887 or contact us online to schedule an appointment!