Nothing beats sitting around a nice warm fire with your family on a cold winter night. A fireplace can add warmth and ambiance to any home. Unfortunately, owning a fireplace can be costly and time-consuming to maintain. Or maybe you want to fix up a nonfunctional fireplace, but the cost getting it back in running order seems too pricey. Have you ever thought about adding a chimney insert to your current chimney system? At Old Smokey’s we have the solution. Although we at Old Smokey’s love an original wood burning fireplace, there are a lot of benefits in considering a wood, gas or pellet stove insert.
What is a chimney insert?
A chimney insert is an appliance that is inserted into your current chimney’s firebox. The insert itself consists of a firebox which is surrounded by a steel shell. This outer shell helps direct more heat into the room, instead of into the masonry. The front of the insert contains a door where you can add fuel to your fire if you have a wood or pellet insert. Most inserts also have a window so that you can still see your fire.
Efficiency
Inserts on the market today are designed to be incredibly efficient compared to an open-hearth fireplace. Open hearth fireplaces pull air from your home and into the fire meaning they burn very fast and inefficient. FIreplace inserts, on the other hand, have a sealed, air-tight firebox. This means your fire will generate more heat and burn slower. In fact, some inserts can be up to 80 percent efficient. This is much better than the 5 to 10 percent efficiency of open hearth fireplaces.
Installation
Installing a chimney insert can be challenging. Although there may be a lot of “how to” videos and tutorials online, there are a lot of procedures that need to be followed exactly to manufacturer specifications. Besides fitting the firebox correctly inside the hearth, you also must be able to correctly install ventilation out of the top of the chimney. If any procedure is done incorrectly, it may become a fire hazard. That’s why it is important to have your insert installed by a Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) certified chimney technician. At Old Smokey’s, our chimney technicians have been trained and certified to install any type of chimney insert you like.
If you think that a chimney insert may be something you’re interested in. Don’t hesitate to call Old Smokey’s at 260-424-0009 or stop by our showroom today and let us help you pick out the perfect insert for your fireplace!