A log snaps sending a shimmering of sparks skyward, quickly
extinguished into ash as they floats up the chimney and into the
night. The smell of pine fills the room and the hearth is bathed in
a romantic yellow-orange light.
A log snaps sending a shimmering of sparks skyward, quickly extinguished into ash as they floats up the chimney and into the night. The smell of pine fills the room and the hearth is bathed in a romantic yellow-orange light.
The only thing the lovebirds parked in front of the blaze don’t realize is that while they’re relaxing by the fire, their chimney is polluting the surrounding landscape with smoke, ash and chemical residuals, all the while sucking the nice, warm air their heater has created for the home right past the flue.
What that means is, not only do most standard fireplaces pollute, they raise heating bills, too. A home’s
furnace generally heats the air that comes into the house, seeping around doors and windows, light switches and exhaust fans to be warmed and retained in the house. Furnaces can be 75 to 96 percent heat efficient, meaning that for every dollar spent on electricity or gas, the homeowner will receive 75 to 96 cents worth of actual heat.
“If you’re burning in a regular wood fire-place – the kind with those little glass doors that you find in most living rooms – you’re going to get zero or less return on your heat content,” said Mac McFarland, owner of The Fireplace Depot and McFarland Air Conditioning in Hollister with wife Pat. “If that fireplace is being installed in a new home, the only person who really wins is the developer. It’s much less expensive – maybe $800 – to install an open wood fire place.”
The traditional-model fireplace is of such concern that many counties fighting to reach Environmental Protection Agency standards for air quality have banned the installation of open wood fireplaces in new home construction, Santa Clara County among them.
No ban exists in San Benito, which doesn’t face as much trouble with air quality since it is considerably more rural. But even in the Hollister area, newer fireplace solutions are helping residents to retain the beauty of a hearth without the high cost of open wood fireplaces.
Gas
Gas powered fireplaces that “burn” realistic, but virtually indestructible cement logs have almost completely taken over the hearth industry, said McFarland, who estimates that nearly 90 percent of his business in today’s market comes from the installation of gas fireplaces.
These fireplaces function with high efficiency because they operate on what’s called a direct vent system, said Dan Hartl, a sales estimator for Tri-County Installation and Fireplace in Santa Cruz, which serves customers from San Francisco to King City.
The way a direct vent works is this: fires need two things – a source of fresh air and an exhaust point. Traditional models have the chimney as their exhaust point and must pull air from the interior of the home to supply their oxygen needs.
Direct vent fireplaces line the interior of the flue and create two separate pathways within the contained space. The front of the fireplace is blocked with an airtight panel of glass, forcing the fire to pull air down one tube and release it through the other.
Meanwhile, pure radiant heat emanates from the fireplace into the home.
And since gas fireplaces contain a controlled flame, they don’t need a chimney to be installed at all. Instead, gas fireplaces can be vented straight through a side wall, said McFarland.
Model options range from a remote-controlled version that will maintain the temperature of your choice or turn itself on in the morning to a see-through model that has been popular with Hartl’s clients as a divider between their master bedrooms and adjacent Jacuzzis.
EPA Approved Wood-Burning Stoves
Another fireplace option that many homeowners don’t realize they have is the installation of an EPA-certified wood stove.
These clean-burning alternatives to standard wood fireplaces will burn one load for an average of 12 hours, and their adjustable oxygen intake valves allow the homeowner to control the intensity of the burn.
Arriving in an endless array of shapes, colors and combinations, from grill racks and stove plates for emergencies to decorative flourishes, these stoves are airtight marvels of wood-based resourcefulness, returning more than 70 percent heat efficiency.
“In general, if you see flames in a wood burner, you’re wasting energy,” said McFarland. “The biggest drawback to a traditional fireplace is that once that wood is set on fire, you loose all control. You’re not after a big blaze with these. You’re after one long, slow smolder.”
Moreover, the stoves don’t pollute as much because they engage in what’s called a double burn, generating additional heat by burning their own smoke, ash and chemical residue a second time. The resulting exhaust is around the same as that from a single car.
Heat-N-Glo
The final option for homeowners is to install what’s known as an illusion fireplace. Really, there’s no fire. It’s the play of light on fabric and the warmth of the built-in electric heater that looks something like a fire.
Popular in apartments and condominiums, and newly available for installation in high-end RVs, they’re today’s “instant fireplace.”
“This is Disneyland,” said McFarland. “It’s smoke and mirrors.”
But esoteric concerns aside, adding a fireplace can mean adding value to a home as well, said Peter Gallo of Gallo & Gallo Appraisal in Morgan Hill, though how much depends on the size and quality of the home.
“Usually the highest contributory value that can be given is the actual cost of installation, but fireplaces are still very popular,” said Gallo. “Lots of houses have more than one. You start getting into higher quality homes and they may have three or more.”
Installation on gas, wood stove and Heat-N-Glo fireplaces ranges between $1,000 and $4,000 depending on the size and quality of the unit as well as the choice of extra amenities.
Rebates from $100 to $300 are available to Santa Clara County residents through the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. For more information, visit www.spartheair.org/changeout.htm.
