Angie's LIST Guide to
Fireplaces

Although the best time to decide on a fireplace is when a house is being designed and built, you still have some options converting an existing fireplace or even adding one to a pre-existing home.

Your cat will thank you for building a fire. (Photo courtesy of Angie's List member Charles Sticha)

Wood-Burning Fireplaces: This is the traditional version in which natural wood is burned in a masonry firebox opening and the smoke goes up a brick chimney. It's beautiful, but has some downsides.

Traditional fireplaces are messy, require a continuing supply of firewood and the chimneys need to be cleaned periodically to reduce the risk of a catastrophic chimney fire. Adding a traditional fireplace with brick chimney to a pre-existing house is an expensive operation that is usually not practical.

Gas Fireplaces: Natural gas fireplaces can be just as pleasing as a wood fire and provide lots of heat with less maintenance. The "logs" are artificial and the flames are produced from natural gas piped into the back of the firebox.

Most gas fireplaces still require venting, but if your house does not already have a chimney a new gas fireplace can be vented through a wall. Modern gas fireplaces look so natural they can be difficult to distinguish from a natural fire.

Combo Gas/Wood-Burning Fireplace: This combination gas-wood fireplace allows you to burn real logs in the fireplace, but makes it easier to do so because the gas provides a reliable source of flame.

Electric Fireplaces: Although early versions of electric fireplaces were little more than a light bulb behind red and yellow plastic, modern versions of this idea can look surprisingly real. They provide heat, but require no messy fuel or venting -- and can even be operated by remote control. They will, however, add to your electric bill.

When you're sitting right in front of the fireplace, it may seem that you are heating up the room too, but unfortunately the reverse is often true.

Because hot air rises and creates a draft, indoor heat from your furnace can be sucked into the open fireplace and up out of the chimney. So using your fireplace can actually increase your monthly heat bill.

If you have a traditional wood-burning fireplace, keep the glass doors closed except when you are tending to the fire. This increases safety -- and can save you money.

If you don't have glass doors and there's a window near the fireplace, open it just a crack so that the suction caused by the fireplace pulls from the window instead of from your heated rooms.

Gas fireplaces that are vented through the wall are less prone to wasting indoor heat, but this does still occur. Fireplaces that do not require vents or electric fireplaces which have a built-in heater are the best source of additional heat within the home. However, since it takes energy to run them, the net energy efficiency is still questionable.