Throughout the winter season, you are constantly trying to find ways to keep the rooms in your home warm without having to pay a fortune on your energy bill each month. This can be a difficult task since it seems like no matter how many blankets you use, your toes still end up chilled as ice, and nobody wants to have to wear multiple layers when relaxing in their own living room. It may seem like your only alternative is to raise the heat in your home, forcing you to deal with the cost of your energy bill each month for the duration of the winter season. What if we told you there could be another way. At Franklin HVAC, we have found fireplaces to be a useful tool in providing the rooms in your home with added heat to keep everywhere nice and toasty.
A fireplace can provide the rooms in your home with plenty of extra heat without you having to pay a fortune on your energy bill. Our heating and cooling professionals want to provide you and your family with some tips on how to properly use this method of heating your home.
When using your fireplace to heat your home, you will find that much of the heat created through this alternative source is lost through the chimney. To continue burning, a fire needs fresh oxygen and the waste gases must escape up the chimney for safety purposes. This direction of airflow will cause colder air from various parts of your home to be drawn towards the fireplace creating a cold draft around your toasty fire. This does’t mean you have to resort back to turning up the heat, Franklin HVAC has some tips to avoid losing all the heat from your toasty fire.
The solution you are looking for is to add more heat in the room and add a barrier in front of your fireplace to reduce the amount of air flow being pulled from your home. The added heat will deliver more warm air in the house. Many choose to use an electric blower because of their energy efficiency. A glass barrier will deliver you the best results in terms of slowing down the cold air flow being pulled from your house.
There are also other energy-efficient techniques you can use to avoid your warm air escaping through your chimney when your fireplace is not in use. Doors and covers are a great way to block the air trying to escape from your home up through your chimney. Covers are inexpensive, but a glass door will provide you with the best results. Another great tool is a flue sealer. This is a removable seal that stops the escape of air through your chimney. They are typically inexpensive and made from heavy plastic that doesn’t require professional instillation as they are easy to put in and remove.
If you follow all of these techniques to using your fireplace properly through the winter, your home will be provided with added heat in a cost-effective way. If you follow these tips and still find the warm air escaping, call our heating and cooling professionals out to check for any leaks your home may have.
