Using a Fireplace in Your Room Design Without a Chimney

July 31, 2011 | Author: Adam Winthrop | Posted in Home & Family

We all love the warmth of an open fire – the crackle of wood or the dance of a naked flame; it is simply something we as humans appreciate and gravitate to within any room. Fireplaces provide warmth and comfort, and they are a nexus for social and family gatherings as the focus of any room and home.

A big problem with designing a fireplace is that you needed to fit the fireplace to a chimney to provide venting for any smoke. This created a severe restriction as no chimney meant no fireplace, though you could redesign the home itself and add a chimney if you really wanted to. This is very expensive and impractical, so what do you do?

There are now fireplaces available which burn clean fuel sources, typically propane or natural gas. Propane burns cleanly and is highly efficient; not only are there no noxious fumes and smells, but the energy provided by burning is much greater than wood or coal. This means that propane inserts are much more fuel efficient leading to greater fuel economies – you burn less fuel to create the same level of heat which saves you money and increases your comfort.

A ventless fire can be fitted into a fireplace cabinet. A fireplace cabinet gives all the visual appeal of a traditional fireplace, but it does not require a chimney as there is no need for venting at all. This provides design freedom to place a fireplace wherever you would like to have one situated within a room or home.

A ventless fireplace also possesses serious advantages over a traditional fireplace. For instance, a wood or coal fireplace requires regular cleaning to maintain it, and even so it will contribute a great deal of dust to the room and home. In addition, you will also need to have the chimney swept and cleaned which will need a professional to come and work on it. In short, traditional fireplaces are expensive to maintain, as well as being more expensive to operate and use.

Now that you have the freedom to put a fireplace into any room or space, the issue is what kind of styles and designs are there?

You’ll be happy to learn that there are just as wide a variety of fireplace cabinets and ventless fireplaces available as their traditional counterparts. You still have to worry about how you will site the fireplace and the impact on the room and home itself. For instance, fitting a fireplace in a bathroom may not be the best of ideas – unless it is a really large bathroom! In the same way, selecting a sleek, very modern ventless fireplace may not be the best design idea if you have a 200 year old colonial home full of tradition and antiques.

A ventless fireplace with a fireplace cabinet is also very cost effective when you look at the cost of buying and installing them. They are far less expensive to buy and install compared to a new, traditional fireplace which is a more intricate heat source than a simple propane insert. You will also find that using a propane insert means that you do not have to be concerned about storing large amounts of coal and fuel around the home. Propane is simply stored in a convenient storage tank, usually close to the home and which can be landscaped to blend in with the surroundings.

For more about ventless fireplaces, check out Agee online at http://www.ageewoodworks.com/

Author: Adam Winthrop

This author has published 19 articles so far. More info about the author is coming soon.

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