When we think of a fireplace, we generally think of a wood-burning fireplace. Naturally, this is for a reason, as we have been burning wood in fireplaces for centuries. Nowadays, fewer people can do this, as in many cases we do not have the option to change the characteristics of a given apartment, or we simply do not have the time to deal with wood-burning. On the other hand, many people have a romantic desire for the sight of a burning fire, or they wish to experience the radiant heat of a fireplace.
Let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages we need to consider when choosing between the experiences provided by a wood-burning fireplace, pellet fireplace, gas fireplace, electric fireplace, bioethanol fireplace, or steam fireplace:
There are certainly those for whom only an authentic open-hearth fireplace is acceptable. However, they can’t buy such a fireplace, only have one built. But you shouldn’t want this because you are very likely to end up with just smoke and cold, or a combination of draft and cold in your home! The warmth can only be enjoyed by the radiant heat next to the fire, and the air in the house will be very inadequately warm. If you don’t want smoke in the house, you need a chimney with a large cross-section and a large smoke chamber. However, not only the smoke but also the heat escapes up the chimney. If you don’t burn in it, cold and the smell of soot will pour into the house. If it’s cold and you want to light a fire – at first, the smoke will not go up the chimney because the chimney is still cold and the cold air forms an air plug. Of course, there are tricks: installing a large butterfly valve in the chimney (capable of blowing – in the past, the rocket vacuum cleaner could do this) now the leaf blower can help to blow out the cold air plug from the chimney before lighting, etc. The best solution is to forget about this kind of romance, as you wouldn’t have enough wood for this energy-wasting heating method anyway. With this disheartening explanation, I have concluded the presentation of open-hearth fireplaces.
Closed wood-burning fireplaces, stove fireplaces:
So, by wood-burning fireplace, I exclusively mean a closed – nicely large glass door – fireplace. This fireplace has an independent, modern fireplace insert (firebox insert) and, almost independently, receives a design cover. These fireplace inserts, if placed stably (many types even have legs), we connect the smoke pipe, some have an external combustion air intake, where we also connect the combustion air pipe, and even without a cover, they are functional in their ugly reality. This is where the stove fireplace version originates. When such a firebox, but generally smaller, gets a stove-like cover (this is usually sheet metal, boiler plate, or tile, gres, stone, etc.) and preferably a large glass door – and the stove fireplace is created. A good fireplace should have a butterfly valve for flue gas draft regulation, combustion air regulation for burning, secondary combustion air supply, a properly sized smoke chamber with a deflector, possibly with channels, a chamotte insert for a nicer flame pattern and against soot. It can be water-jacketed if, instead of simple wood-burning, we want to complicate our lives with an additional circulation pump, uninterruptible power supply, and a separate open water circuit. Everything is there to burn wood with good efficiency but in a way that we can admire the fire and heat in the manner we expect and yes…
– I have good news for authentically romantic individuals:
– There is also a firebox with a lift door.
What is it good for? Well, to hide that door, that is, you slide it up behind the smoke chamber cover, and it looks like the desired open-hearth fireplace. Yes, if you’re not skilled, the smoke will come into the room just the same. So, you light the fire, and if the fire is burning well – not smoking – you can try to lift the door. And you will still smell the smoke. 🙂 I think you’ll do well if you wait until the fire burns down and only embers remain. You’ll have the greatest success then. You can even roast bacon on a skewer in the living room!
Let’s leave the bacon-roasting romance aside.
You can burn wood in a wood-burning fireplace, and usually, distributors rightly prohibit the use of coal. Not just because it’s not environmentally friendly, but because the fireplace is not designed for the heat load that coal can cause. (Although if you use a little, it gives very good heat and you need very little of it). In contrast, pine burns quickly but crackles romantically due to the resin exploding in the inclusions. Hardwood is ideal; it burns slower and leaves very little ash. Although it burns with a slightly less beautiful flame, somewhat bluish – rightly so. Clean burning is blue, the wood gas burns with a blue flame like natural gas, only the oxidation of various minerals in the wood colors the fire nice reddish-yellow. And we don’t heat with wet wood; the tar running down the firebox wall is not an exciting sight. If the wood has only dried for a year – that’s still not enough, it doesn’t burn well – though it will burn. In this case, it’s not the fireplace’s fault but yours. If you can’t wait for the wood to dry, then buy hardwood briquettes. They are just as good as hardwood, even denser and dry, bagged, so they are easier to store, and you only need to buy enough for one winter at a time. Straw briquettes are temptingly cheaper. Be careful, if your fireplace’s ash grate cannot be shaken or rotated – don’t buy it! During burning, the compressed straw expands, possibly filling the entire firebox. It’s not a pretty sight because when it burns down, the ash remains as it is, and it has a lot of ash and significantly lower heating value compared to hardwood briquettes.
The advantages of a closed wood-burning fireplace:
- Creates a cozy and warm environment, and you can enjoy the play of the flames.
- Excellent heat emission and efficiency, and it heats in two ways. We circulate the heated air from under the fireplace cover and increase the air temperature – this is the slower process. Through the glass door, the fire, the embers, or the heated chamotte brick warms us by radiant heat – this is the faster.
- Cheaper to operate if wood is easily accessible. Especially if you have trees in your garden that need to be cut down continuously.
- Better for the environment compared to coal or oil heating.
Disadvantages:
- Emits smoke, ash, and dust.
- You have to work for the romance. You might escape chopping wood, but you can’t avoid carrying wood in, lighting the fire, and removing the ashes.
- The heating value depends on the type of wood and its moisture content.
- You need to have a chimney.
- If you want to use the fireplace, you need to store at least a year’s worth of dry wood (or briquettes). If it’s not dry, because it usually isn’t, you need to have storage space for at least three years’ worth of fuel.
- Requires regular cleaning and maintenance.
An example of a simpler fireplace insert:
Nordflam Delios 12kW Eco firebox insert
An example of a design firebox insert – chamotte-lined, panoramic glass on three sides:
A.caminetti Crystal 80 Open Side firebox insert
Example video of a lift-up, hideable glass door firebox insert:
This is an A.caminetti Crystal 110 max fireplace insert
Example of fireplace stoves with metal and ceramic cladding:
Warnex Hunor Celine and Warnex Nova G fireplace stove
Pellet fireplaces, fireplace stoves:
In fact, these are also wood-burning, but the fine chips and sawdust are pressed through a die – if you’ve seen rabbit food pellets – it’s exactly like that. The advantage is easy handling; you don’t need to shop a year in advance, making it an ideal choice if you don’t have enough storage space, plus it’s cleaner to work with. A pellet fireplace has a built-in pellet storage, that is, a hopper, and it feeds itself with a motorized auger depending on the burning intensity we want to achieve. You don’t have to open the door to put more wood on the fire, so smoke can’t escape into the living space. There’s no situation where you’ve loaded it up, and now it’s burning well – now turn it down because it’s getting too hot. Compared to a traditional fireplace, this is a high-tech piece of equipment, like comparing an 80s gas boiler to a condensing boiler. It usually has an LCD display, menu system, you can adjust everything, even the temperature of the exhaust gas, you can start or stop it with a remote control, adjust the burning intensity, but it’s best to operate it with a thermostat, like a gas boiler. The more convenient it is – the less romantic, but the sight of the fire remains. At the same time, it is extremely efficient because the system takes care of every detail. It hasn’t really spread in our country, it’s not widely known.
Advantages:
- Creates a cozy and warm environment, and you can enjoy the play of the flames like in a traditional fireplace, just without seeing logs; the pellets are in a small recess where the flame comes out, so it’s not distracting, you don’t see the pellets.
- The controller system provides a more even and almost maintenance-free operation for greater comfort.
- Even better heat emission and efficiency compared to a closed system wood-burning fireplace.
- More convenient and cleaner to use than wood burning. The chance of smoke or dust entering the house during use and handling is much smaller compared to a closed system wood-burning fireplace.
- If you buy quality pellets, little ash is produced, so you need to clean it less often.
- Better for the environment compared to coal or oil heating.
- Storing and handling the fuel is much more convenient compared to wood burning.
Disadvantages:
- For some, the remote control and LCD display, and indeed the combination of electronics and wood burning, can be disillusioning.
- Romanticism requires effort. While you may avoid splitting wood, you can’t escape carrying the wood, starting the fire, and cleaning the ashes.
- Heating value depends on the composition and moisture content of the pellets.
- You need to have a chimney.
- Pellets alone are not enough; you also need electricity. No power means no heat.
- You are not exempt from regular cleaning and maintenance duties.
- If something breaks, you might need an electrician.
- Forget about burning garden waste in it! (Unless you also buy a wood grinder and pellet machine.)
Example of a pellet stove:
Waldbeck Energiewende pellet stove
Gas Fireplaces:
There are gas fireplaces that look just like wood-burning ones. With remote control, thermostat, and all the features of the pellet fireplace mentioned above, or a modern gas boiler, because that’s what it essentially is, except you can enjoy the sight of the fire. Moreover, to complete the look, there are ceramic logs in the firebox that color the flames for a prettier fire. But this is more common in North American culture.
A more ordinary variant is the fireplace convector, which is basically a windowed version of the well-known wall-mounted convector. You can see the fire, and it also has ceramic log imitations for a better look, and the design of the convector is improved. This is obviously highly subjective – but it’s a fact that with a simple and timely convector replacement, you get the view of the fire. An example is the FÉG Zeusz F850F wall-mounted visual convector.
For fireplace convectors, the added benefit is the view of the flames and better appearance, but other than that, the pros and cons are the same as those experienced by anyone who has lived in a convector-heated home. (I won’t go into the significant efficiency improvements of modern gas convectors here.)
Electric Fireplaces:
They look like real wood-burning fireplaces from a distance, but up close you can tell something is off. However, today’s industry is capable of incredible flame imitations. The main point is that the heat is usually provided by infrared panels or other electric heating solutions, but the focus is still on providing infrared radiant heat. Meanwhile, they mimic the appearance of a wood fire. Typically, there’s a glowing log or coal imitation behind which there is a light source. Nowadays, this light source is usually LED, but it can also be a halogen bulb. This light has a dual purpose. First, the light passing through the log decoration gives the impression of embers, and second, it projects light onto the back wall of the fireplace with a flame pattern. The illusion of real flames is created by a motor spinning an irregular, mirrored shape behind the faux log pile. The resulting reflection, with light filtering through the logs and moving on the back wall of the fireplace, creates the effect of a real fire.
Advantages:
- Easy to install and use, no need for a chimney.
- No smoke, ash, or carbon monoxide emissions.
- Various styles and designs to choose from.
- Can be controlled with a remote.
- Both heating power and flame effects can be separately adjusted. This allows you to turn on the flame effects without heating, so you can enjoy the fire simulation even in warm weather.
- Requires little depth. A complete traditional fireplace requires a minimum depth of 60cm, whereas this type needs only 10cm, and it can even be wall-mounted.
- Since it usually uses LED lighting nowadays, with RGB LED, you can set not only a red-yellow flame combination but also create completely unnatural flame experiences with any color of the rainbow, letting your imagination run wild.
Disadvantages:
- Higher electricity consumption. Compared to modern electric heating solutions like heat pump systems, using this method for heating consumes 3-4-5 times more electricity.
- Can be well imitated, but it only resembles traditional fireplaces in terms of heating effect.
- Not a real fire, although there are visually stunning designs available, it’s still a two-dimensional flame representation compared to the real 3D flame.
Examples of electric fireplaces:
Glow Fire Saturn XXL wall-mounted electric fireplace and TAGU Frode freestanding electric fireplace
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Bioethanol Fireplaces:
Bioethanol, i.e., alcohol, is burned. So, you can have a real fire. These fireplaces have a small footprint, so wall-mounted versions also have low depth requirements, similar to electric fireplaces. Moreover, there are even mini tabletop versions available, as they can be made in lamp size. These ethanol solutions are generally used as decorative elements, where the real fire’s appearance is the essence, so they usually produce low heat, but they do produce heat since the fire is real. However, as a result, there are also puritan, minimal designs available. Often, only two glass panels enclose the fire, providing enough protection to prevent accidents. Since alcohol burns cleanly, odorlessly into water and carbon dioxide, and the volume of combustion is not large – because we are not using it for heating, there is no need for a chimney. This is the type of fireplace where you can have a real fire in an apartment where you can’t install a chimney. Additionally, ethanol specifically designed for bio fireplaces is often scented, similar to scented candles.
Advantages:
- No smoke or ash emissions.
- No odor, and easy to regulate.
- Doesn’t require a chimney or any kind of smoke exhaust.
- Wide range of modern, minimalist, and classic designs available, as the technology allows for greater design freedom.
Disadvantages:
- Typically low heat output, as they are designed for visual appeal rather than heating purposes.
- Higher operating costs, as bioethanol is relatively expensive. It’s easy to see that the more processed a fuel is, the more resource-intensive its production, thus the more expensive it is. Ethanol is more expensive than firewood, which is more expensive than wood briquettes, and even more expensive than bioethanol.
- Not suitable for heating an entire house.
- Only fill the tank when it’s cold! Alcohol vaporizes well. In warm weather, alcohol vapor can ignite when refueling.
Examples of Bioethanol Fireplaces: – there are countless variations between small tabletop and true-to-life ones
Phantasma Graca and Phantasma Cottage Pillar ethanol fireplace
Water Vapor Fireplaces:
Now, this is a real oddball – it blows water and simulates fire 🙂
The main point is that the rising water vapor creates warmth (boiling) or operates at low temperatures, achieved by ultrasonic humidification, blown by a small fan – the water vapor flows playfully in the air, just like the tongues of burning wood. If we illuminate it from below, and lead the vapor through imitation wood or real wood logs, especially if it’s illuminated with real fire-colored, i.e., yellow-red light, it really seems like the wood is glowing and burning. Moreover, this is not 2-dimensional, like electric fireplaces, but truly three-dimensional. Furthermore, since it’s water vapor, and doesn’t radiate heat, there’s no need for even minimal protection like with ethanol fireplaces. This is total illusion. Without heat protection, the “fire” burns freely next to you, and you can even reach into it, but nothing happens – because it’s just vapor. Of course, these designs can also be combined with heating functions, or if achieved through boiling for humidification, or with halogen bulbs for lighting, then there’s a little sensation of warmth, but fundamentally these are meant to perfectly imitate the 3-dimensional appearance of fire safely. These are just fire-simulating humidifiers. Especially advantageous in dry-air apartments in winter, and not just beautiful.
Advantages:
- Absolutely eco-friendly, as they only provide the illusion of fire.
- The most beautiful way to increase humidity in a room.
- Easy to control.
- Safe for children and anyone, as you only get humidified and can’t get burned.
Disadvantages:
- Have low, negligible, or no heat output unless there’s an additional electric heating component.
- Some people don’t find them as cozy as real flames because although they may look beautiful, if you don’t feel the radiant heat, the experience is not complete. (but if there’s a radiant panel behind it)
- Requires water refilling.
Example of a Vapor Fireplace:
Glow Fire water vapor fireplace
In Summary
Each type of fireplace has its own advantages and disadvantages. However we look at it – every temptation and illusion is about wanting to see the fire. We want to experience it, but with less dirt, ash, dust, carrying, in greater comfort and safety – especially if we live in a place where we don’t have the chance to provide a chimney for a real fireplace.
That’s when brainstorming comes in, weighing our options based on personal preferences and the opportunities provided by our living environment. Moreover, all this must be done taking into account energy efficiency, environmental considerations, and expected operating costs.