Fireplace Accessories Advisor

Archive for the ‘Types’ Category

Centuries ago, fireplaces were used with the sole purpose of heating the house and cooking. In those regions where winters were long and harsh, fireplaces were the best solution against the cold.

In time, however, people’s view of fireplaces changed and new values were attached to them. The hearth began to symbolize the family, and the fireplace acquired connotations of coziness, safety, the warmth of a home. It later became a symbol of the old countryside traditions as well. These strong values applied to the fireplace have contributed to its endurance over time.

Today, many people are having fireplaces installed in their homes not because they have no alternative source of heating, but because they want to create an atmosphere that will match their idea of an idyllic time and place.

Fireplaces come in as many different forms and materials as you can imagine. In what follows, were going to take a look at metal fireplaces.

Features and Advantages

Metal can be used for the construction of any element of the fireplace. Cast iron, an influence of the Victorian period, is an excellent choice due to its durability. Metal is often the material chosen for the hearth and firebox as well as the mantel.

Metal can be designed in all kinds of fireplace styles, from classic to contemporary. Other metals, such as wrought brass, can be used for the fireplace mantel. Iron can be painted in any color that suits the fireplace and the room, while brass impresses with its discrete glistening. Nickel plating can be applied to the metallic elements, adding luster to them.

There are several advantages of metal over other materials. First of all, metal doesn’t catch fire. Its true that wooden mantels are always treated with different substances so as to become fire-resistant in compliance with the safety requirements in effect, but the use of iron for this fireplace element is an even safer choice. As for stone, while no one can deny its impressive massiveness, it is nevertheless very difficult to work with due to its weight. Fireplace elements made of metal are much easier to install.

Metal Fireplace Accessories

Fireplace accessories are also often made of metal. Think, for instance, of the screen that protects the area around the fireplace against damage caused by flying sparks and embers. Whether made of cast iron, wrought iron or brass, the fireplace screen is a beautiful decorative element in the room. Other fireplace accessories made of metal include the log rack, the fireplace grate, and tools such as the poker, tongs and shovel.

When it comes to fireplaces, there are several names in the field that have gained extensive reputation for the technical quality and artistic beauty of their products. One such name is Napoleon, a company that has conquered the market with its wide range of fireplaces. Its innovative designs and leading edge technology have also established the popularity Napoleon enjoys among buyers of accessories. In the following paragraphs, we’ll have a look at the company’s history and current offer to give you a reference point in your search for a fireplace.

An Award Winner

Napoleon boasts four Vesta Awards for their fireplaces and stoves since 2001. The awards were won on account of the products sleek design, innovative technological concepts, and impressively low turn-down rate. With a portfolio like this, its no wonder the company is considered an industry leader.

Napoleon Products

The company’s products span many different categories. Whether you’re looking for gas, wood or electricity as fuel, you’ll definitely come across some irresistible fireplace and stove models at Napoleon. Full fireplaces and stoves as well as inserts that fit flush into the opening of a fireplace will make it hard for you to leave their store or website without deciding on something to take home with you.

Napoleon is also a great place to shop for accessories. Youll find an unbelievable array of such products as faux logs for both gas and electrical fireplaces, protective screens, overlays and side shelves for stoves, majestic surrounds, and many more. You can enclose your fireplace using one of the sets of doors available or you can change the look of the fireplace mantelpiece and surrounds with the help of carefully designed insets.

Make sure to always check the latest products added, as well as the monthly specials. That way, you’ll be able to take advantage of the great discounts offered by Napoleon.

Customer Support

The Napoleon website abounds in useful advice for people in search of new products or of ways to keep their existing fireplace in good repair. Installation manuals, useful tips, even videos can be accessed online. You can also register your Napoleon product, in order to benefit from the favorable warranty terms they offer — some parts even come with lifetime warranty.

Your Choice

Napoleon has over 25 years of experience in the industry. Combined with a constant effort to maintain and improve standards, this makes the company one of your top choices when shopping for a fireplace or accessory.

If you went around asking people whether they would like to have a fireplace in their home, chances are you would get a lot of affirmative answers. The reason, of course, has to do less with the practical utility of this construction and more with the intangible values we have come to associate it with.

The fireplace owes its endurance over so many centuries to the fact that it gives an air of coziness to the home. Its warmth is more than skin-deep; people feel warm at heart when they are seated around the hearth.

Over time, new designs have been added to the classic ones, so that fireplaces are now available in a variety of materials, sizes, shapes and colors. There is no competition between classical and modern fireplaces. Rather, there is harmonious coexistence. In what follows, we are going to have a look at modern fireplace designs.

Limestone seems to enjoy the highest preference among fireplace owners today. In fact, limestone seems to be equally popular among manufacturers due to the ease with which it can be modeled. The distinguished look and the complex carvings that often adorn limestone surrounds add a special touch to the room decor. Just have a seat in front of it and feel transported to ancient Rome.

If you’re willing to allocate a higher budget to the acquisition of a fireplace mantel, you may want to consider marble. Radiating luxurious beauty and magnificence, marble is unparalleled in terms of style. French and Vatican styles are among the many designs available for marble fireplace surrounds.

In addition to these classic models, today’s technology has contributed to the creation of previously unimaginable fireplace styles. CAD techniques and three-dimensional effects have made it possible to either filter traditional fireplace styles through a modern perspective or to contrive completely novel fireplace designs.

The use of electricity and gas instead of solid fuel adds much flexibility in the development of contemporary fireplace models, whose location in the house can now be decided based only on stylistic considerations, free from any architectural constraints. Custom-made fireplaces are no longer something unusual.

Considering the popularity of fireplaces today, it is likely that they will remain a dear item in peoples homes. New styles of fireplaces will probably continue to emerge, but there will always be people who will favor classic fireplace designs. All in all, it seems the fireplace is here to stay.

One of the reasons fireplaces are not so common in homes nowadays is the reduced availability of space that can be dedicated to them. On the other hand, if you really want to have a fireplace in your home, you shouldn’t let the tape measure discourage you. Fireplaces can now be installed anywhere in a room, including the corners. If you choose gas as the fuel for your fireplace, things can get even simpler. Lets see how.

A Modern Look and No Mess

First of all, the very placement of the fireplace in a corner saves a lot of space and gives you more freedom in arranging the seats so that they don’t take up the whole central area of the room. Second, a corner gas fireplace confers a more modern and surprising look to your home. Finally, let’s not forget that gas is a very clean fuel — you wont have to worry about soot being accidentally blown out of the fireplace. A few vents are all you need, and they can easily be mounted on a wall or in the roof. The hearth itself has a merely decorative function, so it is easy to install.

Things to Keep in Mind

Besides the vents, there are a few things to consider when adding a corner gas fireplace to your home. One such thing is the installation of a thermostat to help maintain the room temperature at optimal levels. This is definitely a plus compared with solid fuel fireplaces, since the gas flow can be regulated and the flame turned on and off automatically. You might want to add a glass screen for aesthetic purposes — the two-way view can enhance your corner gas fireplace experience. You can also choose whether you want the corner gas fireplace to have a mantelpiece over the fireplace or not — it will not affect its performance; its all about how it looks in the context of your room.

How to Get a Fireplace

Fireplace stores will let you choose a model that best suits the architecture of your home and style of your room. You should check the many offers listed in magazines and on the web before you decide on what to purchase. If you cant find anything that really appeals to you, there are many companies that will offer you custom-made fireplaces matching your specifications.

Fireplaces were used extensively in the past as practical solutions to warm homes during frosty winter days or chilly and moist autumn times. Often occupying the whole width of a room, fireplaces were made of stone or brick and often had ornate mantelpieces framing them in front. Beautiful carvings and imaginatively shaped screens added beauty to the comfort of being close to the fire.

Nostalgia and a Quaint Beauty

Idyllic as we may see them nowadays, brick fireplaces did not spring from peoples pursuit of beautiful ornamentations. Instead, brick fireplaces served the practical purpose of heating the home, or at least part of it, in the absence of easier means of creating caloric comfort: with such solutions as gas or electricity being unavailable, people had to use these massive stone gapes in order to protect them from the cold and humidity.

But the soothing warmth that brick fireplaces brought made them a favorite place for the family to gather, so brick fireplaces soon came to host various objects that were dear to the family, such as paintings and other ornamental articles. It was a short step from here to associating brick fireplaces with the preservation of old rustic treasures; many depictions of the traditional countryside include the image of a brick fireplace, harking back to times when people had to endure natures harshness and simple joys were so much more profoundly enjoyed.

A Sentimental and Architectural Unity

The double meaning of “hearth”, as the floor of the brick fireplace and the more general idea of home or native place, can be easily explained. The central position of the brick fireplace in the house was both literal and figurative. Not only was the brick fireplace the place where members of the family gathered, but it was also architecturally an element of the house, usually included in the construction plan before the building started. There had to be a carefully calculated relation between the surface and volume of a room and those of the brick fireplace. The amount of heat as well as the prevention of the hazards associated with fire, smoke and suit relied heavily on these calculations.

A Thing of the Past?

As time went by and the world evolved, brick fireplaces became more of an ornament than a practical necessity. With the wider availability of newer and more efficient ways of heating the home, many houses no longer included brick fireplaces in their design. Others, however, couldn’t part with the old hearth so easily. Today, the brick fireplace is no longer a necessity, but it nevertheless symbolizes the idea of a cozy home.

Depictions of traditional countryside homes from the past often show large brick-and-stone fireplaces that often stretch as wide as a whole wall of a room. The size and material both look reassuring of the soothing warmth emanated by the fireplace. Times changed, however, and so did fireplaces. With new ways to heat the house, there was no more need for such massive constructions. On the other hand, the demand for a more efficient use of the space inside the home also required some changes. Consequently, fireplaces became smaller in size and the brick was replaced with cast iron.

Blending Iron and Stone

Cast iron may look less impressive than stone, but it is definitely more convenient. Usually designed for gas heating, cast iron allows people to enjoy the coziness of a fireplace while avoiding the soot, hazardous sparks and embers, and other typical worries associated with traditional fireplaces. Cast iron fireplaces usually consist of a cast iron insert with fittings for the kind of fuel you want to use (gas, electricity or solid fuel) and are often quite easy to install. The surround and mantelpiece can be of other materials too, not just cast iron; you might prefer marble, granite or pinewood for a more antique look.

Design Flexibility

Besides the advantages already mentioned in connection with cast iron fireplaces, there is another advantage that anyone will appreciate: cast iron fireplaces have flexible design. Due to their smaller size and modular design, cast iron fireplaces come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. You can order a custom-made cast iron fireplace that will integrate well with the rest of the room furnishings. Most stores can supply a cast iron fireplace to your precise specifications within a week.

Buying a Cast Iron Fireplace

The most common challenge connected with the installation of a cast iron fireplace is choosing a location and a design that will improve the aspect of the room. Most present-day homes are not built with a designated fireplace space. There’s no need to despair, however, as there are a lot of companies that can offer solutions for the addition of a fireplace. You’ll find many online catalogs that can give you a clearer picture of how your room can look, so that you’ll be able to make the best choice for a cast iron fireplace. Once you’ve found the cast iron model model that matches your expectations in terms of size, design and price, you’re ready to place an order.

Once upon a Time…

The first fireplaces were built without any chimney — just a hearth in the middle of the room, with the necessary accessories to allow its use for cooking in addition to heating. However, the advantage of keeping all the heat inside the room, thus maintaining maximum heating efficiency, brought along a huge disadvantage: there was full smoking efficiency as well. The smoke could only escape through accidental cracks in the walls and roof. Fortunately, times and technology have changed the past hundreds of years. It is now possible to have a fireplace with no chimney or vents whatsoever, without worrying about clouds of smoke in your room.

What Its All About

The magic element is natural gas or propane. Since the same fuel is used for your regular cooking stove, which doesn’t necessarily have a vent, it is logical that the same concepts can be applied to fireplaces as well. The air in the room is used for maintaining the fire, and once the gas is burned… well, the gas is burned. The result is heat, nothing else — or, to be exact, the rest of the combustion products is insignificant and they can be dispersed in the room without any risks. Ventless fireplaces are highly cost-effective compared with other kinds of fireplaces, since no transformations are required in the structure of the house. And, with so many designs available, you won’t regret not having installed a traditional fireplace. All you need is a gas tank or a connection to the city supply.

Purchase

If you have a look at ventless gas fireplace offers, youll notice the acronym BTU being used in the description of their efficiency. This BTU lets you know how much energy the fireplace will consume and how much heat you can expect it to release. Depending on the size of your room, you can choose a higher- or lower-output fireplace. Its not just about the heating capacity, remember, but also about the amount of air they require for proper functioning.

Risks

Remember the insignificant by-products we mentioned a couple of paragraphs above? Well, the legislation in some states doesn’t agree that they are insignificant. Since any fire uses up oxygen and produces carbon dioxide (or even worse, if there isn’t enough oxygen available, carbon monoxide), this can make the air in the room unbreathable and lead to suffocation. Humidity also tends to increase in the room when there is no vent available. Make sure, therefore, to open a window every now and then, and avoid leaving the ventless fireplace on when you’re sleeping, as you risk not being aware of the depletion of oxygen.

Final Remarks

If the necessary precautions are taken, ventless fireplaces can be a practical and economical solution. Some ventless fireplaces emulate traditional fireplaces in form, but most of them are portable, which increases your decorating flexibility.