Tips To Prevent Heat Loss From Your Fireplace

A wood-burning fireplace can create an atmosphere of cosy warmth or romantic intimacy, and if you have one in your home, you probably also enjoy the crackling life it brings to the room.

Sitting by a fire is extremely relaxing, except for when your fireplace starts to lose its heat.

How a burning fireplace can cause heat loss

If you’re burning wood in an open fireplace, the fire sucks the warm air out of the room, sending it out through the chimney. It’s simple physics – the fire draws the oxygen it needs for combustion and sends the waste gases up through the chimney.

This creates a gap, so more air is drawn towards the fireplace, and so it goes on, with the chimney carrying away most of the generated heat. You’ll need to be sitting very close to the fire to feel the radiant heat.

What you can do to keep the heat inside your home

• Firstly, closing all the doors that lead into the room in which the fireplace is located, and opening the closest window to the fire about 2cm will reduce the fire’s ability to pull cold air into your home.
• You can trap the radiant heat by placing a glass barrier in front of the fireplace. Just remember that you can’t block the fire’s access to air completely, or it will go out.
• A damper can keep warm air in the room when a fire isn’t burning by closing the convection current. Consult an expert for more information about how this works.

How to get the most out of your fire

If you want to feel completely at ease about the energy efficiency of your fireplace, you should consider gas fireplace inserts for existing fireplaces. By converting a wood fireplace to a gas insert, you’re taking a great step for a more efficient burn.

Fuelled by wood, pellets or gas, a fireplace insert prevents heat loss and radiates heat into the room. It can improve a fireplace’s heating capability by more than 60%.

If you’re interested in installing a gas fireplace, contact Jetmaster today so we can evaluate your specific needs and recommend the best solution for your home. We offer built-in or freestanding units and a wide variety of installation options. Apart from soothing your senses, a well-installed and energy-efficient fireplace adds immediate value to your home.