Improving the Efficiency of a Traditional Fireplace
There are two chief strategy for improving fireplace efficiency . The first is to apply convection as well as radiation to catch some of the heat energy from the fervor . Some fireplaces include a built - in heat money changer – transmission channel where way air can distribute around the hot parts of the anatomical structure – either through natural air flow or forced by a lover . The air absorbs the heat and return it to the room .
The second attack is to block part of the front of the firebox to set the amount of melodic line that flows unnecessarily up the lamp chimney . unremarkably , this is done with doors made of temper , heating system - resistant looking glass . Adjustable intake allow enough air to reach the firing to keep it burn .
Here are some specific path these two strategies are used :
Atubular grateis a serial of open pipes that curve behind the flaming and extend out the top of the firebox . The musical theme is to draw in coolheaded gentle wind at the bottom , heat it and let it flow into the room . The job is that much of the heated air is sop up back into the fire . Used with glass room access that block this air return , a vasiform grate can help squeeze more warmth from a fireplace [ source : Ace Hardware ] .
Glass doorsreduce the loss of elbow room air up the chimney and still give up you to view the ardour . The drawback is that the shabu can also scale down the warmth that reaches the room by one-half ( even a mesh screen trim radiant warmth by 30 percent ) [ informant : Bortz ] . The result is a small gain in efficiency .
Fireplace insertsare alloy corner – normally equipped with chicken feed doors – that fit inside the firebox . They apply a heat exchange sleeping room with channels to appropriate room aviation to cash in one’s chips through and absorb heat . Fireplace inserts usually require a full stainless sword labial pipe liner , rather than only connecting to an exist labial pipe . An inset can put out up to five times as much heat as an open open fireplace [ source : Carlsen ] .
Some homeowners favour to take vantage of the efficiency of awood stoveby placing the kitchen stove on the fireplace hearth and running the stovepipe into the fireplace lamp chimney . By doing so , they recede the pleasures of an open fire but gain vigor efficiency .
Next , we ’ll take a look at what may be the most efficient open fireplace of all .