If you want to add a heating appliance to your home to increase your home’s efficiently and reduce your home-heating bills, you are left with one major decision: Should you choose a fireplace insert or a freestanding stove?
Fireplace insert
The decision to go with a fireplace insert can be both aesthetic and practical. If you already have an existing fireplace, adding an insert to increase your hearth’s efficiency and heating capacity can seem like a no-brainer. However, there are some considerations. A prefabricated fireplace shouldn’t be fitted with an insert. Doing so would void the warranty and serve as a fire hazard. An insert also might not be the best option if your existing fireplace is located at one end of your home. To effectively heat your home, your insert or heating stove should be centrally located within your home.
For many, fireplace inserts have an aesthetic appeal. Placed within a hearth, fireplace inserts offer the traditional look of a fireplace with increased efficiency and increased heat. While there is the lost potential for radiant heat from the covered sides of the fireplace insert, most inserts are designed to direct heat to the front face of the fireplace to maximize the heating potential.
Freestanding stove
Because a freestanding stove isn’t tied to your existing fireplace space, you have greater flexibility in determining where you will place your heating appliance. A freestanding stove can be placed in the center of a home’s living space. A freestanding stove centrally located on the lower level of a home can heat an entire home. Vent also can be added to the floors of rooms above the heating stove to help those rooms take advantage of the heat transfer.
If there is a drawback to freestanding stoves, it is that they do take up more room within the home because they aren’t sent into a wall. At the same time, a freestanding stove benefits from the large surface area of the heating appliances, radiating heat out from all sides of the stove. A freestanding stove can be placed on a hearth area to improve its aesthetic appeal.
Let FireSide Hearth & Home help you choose!
If you are trying to decide between a fireplace insert and a freestanding heating stove, the fireplace experts at FireSide Hearth & Home can help! We can talk to you about your vision for your heating appliance and about your home-heating goals, and steer you toward the appliances that fit the bill. We carry fireplace inserts and freestanding stoves in a variety of fuel types, sizes, styles and price points. We can help you find the right insert or stove for your home, and we’ll have it expertly installed and ready to heat your home this winter.
