Common Questions For Households Buying Fireplace Inserts
Do you want a home heating option that delivers a touch of elegance and refinement along with comforting warmth? Modern fireplaces can offer consistent heating with multiple fuel sources and heating distribution that does more than warm the immediate vicinity. Here are a few questions and answers to help you learn more about fireplace inserts as a home heating option.
Question: Does a professional have to install the fireplace insert?
Although professional installation is not required, it is recommended. Especially with ventilation systems, proper technique is necessary to make sure that emissions are being sent out of the building properly.
When breaching walls, a precision port must be made, then properly sealed. An uneven breach will allow outside air to affect the inside air more than usual, which greatly reduces how well your building's insulation may work.
Outside air also reduces the effectiveness of not just fireplace inserts, but all heating systems. The more cold air coming from inside, the more heat needed from the heating source.
An improperly-sealed breach can also allow pests to enter the home. Even if you fill the breach with some sort of sealant, an improper technique may allow just enough vantage points for certain pests to break away at the breach if they detect a possible entry.
Intruders can also take advantage of a poor breach job, as it just takes a bit of jostling and twisting by hand to break away at sealant before reaching into the home or searching for information.
Question: How are inserts and fireplace installations measured?
The actual insert product is measured via length, height, and depth or width. The depth and width are the same, as they describe the amount of product that would be going into the wall.
If you have an existing fireplace and want to measure it for proper installation, you can use a tape measurer.
Measure the inside of the fireplace area for the length and width, taking extra care to find any uneven areas. Using a level (a device with usually green liquid and a bubble) can show whether your fireplace area is even or not, and any uneven measurement could affect the insert.
If your fireplace area is uneven, you can either have a contractor fill in parts of the area or expand the area. Before making any major decisions, email us and we can work together to find a local contractor to figure out the exact dimensions and options to go with your fireplace.
Contact a heating maintenance services professional to discuss other aspects of installing and maintaining a fireplace insert system.