Warm Up with Eco-Friendly Fireplaces

It is becoming easier to buy eco-friendly products for your home as more manufacturers and retailers create and offer consumers ideas and options for “greening” their homes. Today, you can find everything from energy-efficient light bulbs to eco-friendly plumbing supplies. The list is endless in terms of products homeowners now have in turning their home into an environmentally-friendly oasis.

For many homeowners, that oasis would not be complete without a fireplace. Fireplaces often rank in the top three features most desired by new homeowners. The warm and inviting aspect of a fireplace has always been highly-admired. Nothing beats that warm, cozy feeling when snuggling up to a warm fire on a cold night. Well, nothing maybe except the fact that traditional fireplaces can give off harmful emissions, aren’t really energy-efficient, and can even carry cold air into your home.

The U.S. Department of Energy reports that a conventional open front fireplace is only 10 percent efficient at converting wood to energy and delivering it to a room, and when it’s operating, it actually increases the infiltration of cold air into your home by creating a partial vacuum within the house. What is really surprising is that convective (moving air) heat losses at the beginning and the end of the burn are actually greater than the radiant heat provided by the fire.

This may make you reconsider having a fireplace in the first place, but do not despair. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, new and more efficient options are being developed every day. The fact that they are also environmentally friendly is an added bonus. A range of new products like the flueless fireplace and the gel fireplace are great alternatives that burn clean, cutting down on emissions while using renewable fuel sources. Best part is they still provide homeowners with that warm, cozy feeling.
Many flueless fireplaces are not only versatile and long lasting, but also do not require a fuel supply. Instead, they use a renewable energy source called denatured ethanol, which provides a carbon free burn and is composed of only biological products. The refillable fuel tank holds approximately five liters of denatured ethanol, which will burn for seven hours on maximum capacity and twenty hours on minimum capacity. The average burn time sits around eleven hours.
If you’ve always craved a fireplace, but lack one in your existing home, you’ll love some of the new modern, and very chic, flueless fireplace designs. Since these types of fireplaces do not require a flue, piping, conduit or ventilation system, homeowner have some flexibility in where they install these units. Designs include a wide selection of both wall mounted and free-standing models and because of their portability can be easily moved as you re-design your living space. Best part is if you move you can even take it with you.
Gel fire places are another flueless option that uses a clear alcohol-based bio-gel which burns cleanly giving a real flame that’s easy to use with no messy clean up. These units are free-standing, vent-free and come in a variety of designs including ones with solid wood mantels, graceful arches and carved columns.

The traditional fireplace manufacturers have stepped up to the plate in terms of improving their designs, making them more energy efficient and clean burning. For example, the Dave Lennox Signature Collection Villa Vista Wood Burning Fireplace still possess the signature beauty and grandeur of a traditional fireplace, but its catalytic technology allows it to burn cleanly at low heat output sources and heat up to a 2,500 sq. ft. space. The Lennox Brentwood SP uses an advanced combustion system which also keeps temperatures high while effectively burning the smoke before it leaves the appliance.

If you have an older fireplace and do not have the option to upgrade, you can still incorporate eco-friendly elements into your fireplace use. For example, there are eco-friendly logs made of soy and switch grass which provide a clean burning, long lasting, renewable fuel source, and specially designed grates like the Eco-Fire Super Grate which can reduce the harmful emissions of a conventional fireplace.

The good news for consumers is you get to have your fireplace and heat it to. The wide variety of eco-friendly products let’s you indulge your love for fireplaces and the benefits they provide while doing your small part for the environment.