Wood Burning Fireplace Inserts: What Are You Losing?

Pleasant childhood memories are among the best things to enjoy and savor. One of my favorites was relaxing next to the crackle of our blazing fireplace on a cold winter day. But my parents hated it. Why? The fireplace I enjoyed sucked most of the heat of the home out the open hearth and through the flue. I remember the excitement of yearly chimney fires! Oh boy! I loved the roar as the creosote in the chimney caught fire. However, my parents remember the frantic dash outdoors to make sure that the roof—and neighboring homes—did not also go up in smoke. Besides, the warmth I felt was an illusion. I would guess that more than 90% of the heat from the burning logs exited the flue.

Too bad that energy efficient wood burning fireplace inserts were not available then. I would have preserved my memories and my parents would have preserved their hard earned money in the form of reduced heating costs. Today there are numerous different styles and designs of wood burning fireplace inserts that will convert most any open hearth from a waster of energy to a 60-80% energy-efficient heat source. These inserts are designed to fit into the fireplace thereby preventing loss of warm air in winter and cool air in summer – and they do this in a beautiful fashion.

Better energy efficiency is achieved by a number of factors. First, many inserts have a glass door through which you can see and hear the burning logs. This prevents room air from going out the flue. Second, inserts can be set up to burn with outside air, thereby eliminating interior drafts. In addition, many inserts draw air across the interior glass door, which keeps the glass clean and cooler. Third, a quiet electric fan can be installed with the insert to increase circulation of the warm air into the room.

Whereas creosote build up and soot was a major concern in my parents’ fireplace, these well designed inserts eliminate nearly all of the emissions from the burning logs. This is accomplished with either catalytic converters or secondary combustion.

Catalytic converters greatly reduce emissions just like those used in your automobile. This is accomplished using platinum, paladeium, or a combination of these metals that is coated over a ceramic or stainless steel honeycomb surface. All emissions from the fireplace go through the catalytic process and many undesirable by-products are eliminated. This results in super clean emissions out of the flue.

But catalytic converters become inefficient after 2-5 years (depending on usage) and they cost $150 to $250 to replace. Their upside is that the emissions are very clean so your flue will not get dirty for years; soot and creosote will not be a problem.

But there are alternatives to catalytic converters. Many people today choose secondary combustion due to its low maintenance. Smoke from the fire is burned again at extremely high temperatures as it exits the primary firebox. By doing this, secondary combustion systems do not use expensive, maintenance intensive catalytic converters, so operating expenses are lower. Although emissions are usually somewhat higher, secondary combustion can meet EPA phase II standards.

The above facts are why wood burning fireplace inserts are a very smart choice for any home. Coupled with many different styles, installation of modern fireplace inserts will stop the loss of your hard earned money while creating an energy efficient center in your house.

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