Looking for the most heat possible from your fireplace? Most open fireplaces are very inefficient. Unless you're right in front of the fireplace you won't feel much heat and in fact you are loosing heat up the chimney every time you burn a fire in an open fireplace since the air in your home is going right up the chimney. A fireplace insert basically does three things - 1) It seals up your fireplace so only a small amount of room air goes up the chimney. 2) The fire is controllable which will allow long burn times. 3) It acts as a furnace utilizing either radiant heat or forced air or both. A fireplace insert can heat part or all of a home and burn times on a load of wood vary from several hours up to 8 or 10 hours on a load of wood depending on the rate of burn and the type of firewood. Fireplace inserts generally require the use of a chimney liner directly connecting from the fireplace insert up through the chimney to the top which is safer and easier to clean. Also see our Fireplace Grate Heaters and Fireplace Doors.
