Let’s face it; the old wood-burning fireplaces that were built with your house 20 or more years ago are energy inefficient. In fact, they are not just inefficient, they are also energy sappers. While most feel like it’s a good idea to use their living room fireplaces instead of central heating, and that it saves them money on keeping one room hot, they are unaware how these fireplaces actually work.
Did you know that 90% of the heat created by the wood-burning fireplace goes right up the chimney? In fact, it can pull 4 to 10 times as much air out of the room and up the chimney to keep the fire burning. Also, when the fireplace isn’t in use, it is still sucking up the warm air from the inside of the house and up the chimney. That’s because other than your doors and windows, which you can control by opening and closing, the fireplace provides a constantly open connection between your home and the outside. Lastly, the smoke created by your fireplace contains methane, carcinogens, carbon monoxide, and other toxic gases.
If you have an old and open wood-burning fireplace, we recommend switching to a much more energy-efficient Gas Fireplace Insert. These units are self-contained, they seal up your chimney, and instead of pulling the warm air from your home inside, the insert pulls the fresh air from the outside, makes it warmer as the air is pulled down the piping, and blows the warm air into your home. Many of our customers use their inserts as room heater instead of their central heating and air, as they spend more time in their living & dining rooms.
You can look at the many Avalon Gas Fireplace Insert options on our website, or visit any of our 3 Bay Area showrooms located in San Rafael, San Mateo, and Concord.