You have decided to change your old fireplace with a new one? You are building a new house and you want to select a new heating system? You have bought a new house and it has a chimney but no fireplace and you don’t know what to do?
These are questions that may occupy your mind when you decide to buy a fireplace heating system. First of all, you should know more about a fireplace and fireplace insert and their differences. It is so important to know when to buy a fireplace or an insert. Don’t worry, we are here to give you information about them and help you to choose the proper one. You should know that fireplace and insert are both available in different types including wood burning, gas, and electricity.
Fireplace
The fireplace is an open area built-in structure where you can make a fire to generate heat. Smoke if any is drawn outside by a chimney. Or maybe it’s a factory-built unit that will be located in a house. Depending on the fuel type used for the fireplace, the fireplace needs or doesn’t need a chimney. For example, all wood-burning fireplaces need a chimney to remove the smoke from the house. Gas fireplaces can be vent-free or vent-needed. And then we have electric fireplaces which are completely vent-free.
Fireplace Insert
Fireplaces are not the most efficient choice for the heating system since a lot of energy is wasted through the chimney. To solve this problem, different types of fireplaces inserts can be used. The fireplace insert is a self-contained firebox that will be installed to an existing fireplace. The main reason for using an insert is to increase fireplace efficiency. Like fireplaces, inserts have different fuel types including wood burning, electric, and gas types.
Does a fireplace or fireplace insert?
Many customers do not know the differences between a fireplace and an insert. With these explanations, you will understand that using a fireplace is desirable when you are building a new house or decide to completely reconstruct the house or if your house didn’t have any kind of fireplace and you decided to buy one. Then you choose a fireplace with your ideal fuel type to be installed. On the other hand, when you have an existing fireplace and want to make some changes in your heating system, you can use an insert that replaces the old fireplace. It doesn’t need any reconstruction or building and so is less expensive than buying a new fireplace. By adding an insert, you can improve the efficiency of the system and give a new look to your home decoration simultaneously. You can provide a blower for inserts to push heat directly into the room.
It should be considered that the fuel type of inserts can be different from the fireplace. For example, you can update your wood-burning fireplace with a new gas insert or an electric type. It all depends on your home’s old heating system and your budget.
Generally, when you want to build a new house or you have a major reconstruction, you may need a fireplace. On the other hand, if you have an existing fireplace, you can replace it with an insert which is an easier and more economical way to update your heating system.
Now you have a better idea of a fireplace and fireplace insert and this can help you to choose a unit suitable for your house.
