A How To Guide - Converting Wood and Gas Fireplaces to Electric Fireplace Heaters
Fireplaces not only add heat to your home, but an ambiance and a sense of comfort to be enjoyed with family and friends. Nothing beats a fireplace to take the chill out of the room. You should also keep in mind that a wood-burning fireplace requires ashes to be removed and adding new wood to the fire on a regular basis. Also, the smoke created from a wood burning fireplace adds to air pollution. Gas fireplaces require maintaining your pilot light and run the risk of gas leaks. In most areas, both of these types of fireplaces will go unused for a large part of the year.
Wood Fireplaces Make Your House a Home
Throughout the ages, the sound of a wood fire crackling in your hearth brings feelings of comfort and security. There is something calming and special about sitting around a fire that brings family and friends closer together. However, when maintaining a wood fire you also need to buy and store the wood. Storing the wood close to your home, opens the possibility of attracting insects and other animals. Also, if the wood becomes wet, you need to wait for it to dry before using.
With a wood-burning fireplace, you also need to consider flue and chimney maintenance, which can be expensive and very messy. If you fail to maintain your chimney, it can lead to smoke filled rooms or even a fire. Aside from paying for this maintenance, you still need to remove the ashes from the fireplace often. The smoke that looks so charming coming from your chimney is actually a leading source of air pollution. These are only some of the negatives to maintaining a wood fireplace.
Gas Fireplaces Look Great
Rather than deal with ash removal, smoke emissions and log storage, you can consider a gas fireplace. At the touch of a button, a gas fireplace will provide convenient, clean heat. You can enjoy delightful flames and intense heat all winter long. However, you must maintain your gas fireplace to keep it operational and safe. There will always be concerns about gas leaks, venting issues and maintaining your pilot light.
A gas fireplace can produce too much heat in a small space and they cost more than electric to operate. Even though gas fireplaces create ambiance and heat, they can only be used at certain times of the year. Don't worry. You have a better option – an electric fireplace!
Easy Installation of Electric Fireplace Heaters
You can easily install an electric fireplace heater into your existing wood or gas fireplace. You do not need a contractor and the cost is much less to operate. Electricity rates vary by region, however the efficiency of most heaters is pretty constant. An electric fireplace provides realistic looking flames for about 3 cents per hour. They will provide heat with flames for approximately 8 to 12 cents per hour. A gas fireplace generally costs 17 to 24 cents per hour to operate. Over time, an electric fireplace will pay for itself and ultimately provide you with convenient heat and realistic flames that will protect the environment.
Now, electric fireplace logs and ember beds look very realistic and come without the risks or mess of real wood or gas logs. The standard electric fireplace heaters provide 4700 BTU’s per hour and can provide supplemental heat for a room approximately 400 sq. ft. Electric Infrared fireplaces provide 5200 BTU’s per hour and provide supplemental heat for a room approximately 1000 sq. ft. You can save up to 10% of your heating bill by turning down the thermostat when nobody is home or during sleeping hours. You can conveniently turn on an electric fireplace with a remote from anywhere in the room. These units only require 120V household electrical outlets to operate. Installing an electric fireplace is quick, easy and quite simple.
Year-Round Comfort and Ambiance
You can enjoy the intimate comfort of an electric fireplace flame, with or without heat. You cannot do this with a wood or gas fireplace. This feature allows you to enjoy the ambiance of a fireplace without paying for heat all year round. Most gas and wood fireplaces go unused most of the year, while with an electric fireplace, you can enjoy the look and feel of a fire any time! An electric fireplace will cost less to operate and provides you with the look and feel of real flames without being inconvenient.
