Why you Need Glass Doors on Your Fireplace
There’s no doubt that a fireplace adds beauty and ambiance to any room. If you’re running an open fireplace in your home, or if you plan to have one installed, consider the next important step you should take to get the most out of this wonderful amenity.
People commonly believe that any fireplace arrangement will ONLY help them cut down on heating costs. But this isn’t true, and we’ll show you why. Beyond creating better heat efficiency and reducing utility bills, fireplace doors add a measure of safety that you can’t put a price on. Let’s look at the four key benefits of installing glass doors on your fireplace.
More efficient heating
When you have a roaring fire in your traditional masonry fireplace, how much of the heat do you think spreads out into your room? If you said more than 20%, you’d probably be wrong. Experts know that 80% or more of the heat goes up the chimney, and a mere 10% of the energy from the fire actually becomes heat.
Want to double the efficiency of your fireplace? Install glass doors. At first that may not seem to make sense, but the glass actually absorbs and radiates the heat into the room far better than the air itself conducts heat from the flames of an open fireplace. Enclosing the heat source also results in more overall heat being produced by the firewood.
Lowered heating costs
If you’re concerned about the cost of heating bills (and who isn’t?), you need to understand the value of installing glass fireplace doors, which are much more efficient air barriers than chimney dampers. Fireplaces with open hearths let the warm air inside your home escape during the winter and allow cool air to escape in the summer. It’s a very inefficient deal, like keeping your windows open all year long, regardless of the temperature.
A fireplace covered by handsome doors allows your fireplace to do what you expect it to do: warm your home without having to use expensive gas or electric heat. A proper fireplace setup can save considerable money on utility bills.
Reduction of downdrafts
Sudden downdrafts in a chimney can be more than just a pain – they can be dangerous. Winter storms coupled with air paths within a home can cause wind to shoot down the chimney and blow both smoke and embers into the room. Glass fireplace doors virtually eliminate the problems caused by downdrafts.
Safety
If you have small children or pets, the last thing you want is to have a fire blazing in an open fireplace. Animals are curious, and little children can be clumsy (and curious). Glass doors on your fireplace make for an inexpensive and secure safeguard against potential serious injury. Fireplace screens, while not as efficient or attractive as glass doors, will at least provide a measure of safety.