Stoves or Fireplaces, What Should I Install?
It is a question that many new home owners and renovators often find themselves asking, what really is the best option - fireplaces or stoves? There are a few factors you should consider before you make your decision
With regards stoves. Firstly what type of stove are you looking for? Would it be perhaps a wood burning stove, boiler, electric, gas, oil or perhaps even multi fuel? The choice you select will obviously depend on what type of heating system you have in your home.
From an aesthetic point of view you could say that fireplaces maybe a little easier on the eye than stoves, a little more beautiful. Sitting down by a roaring fire next to the fireplace in the winter can be a very relaxing and enjoyable past time. Or perhaps for the romantics out there a fireplace can often be a great addition. You could say fireplaces have a sentimental place in a lot of people's hearts, having grown up in a country like Ireland where the weather particularly in the winter, can get very cold.
A good stove on the other hand can also have many benefits and often times can even accompany or actually be built into a fireplace. Say for example you’re thinking of buying a wood burning stove. You may want the stove to be installed into the fireplace itself, and if this is your aim, the general concept of how it will work will be generally that the existing chimney you have will become the exhaust pipe for the stove. Often by installing a good stove you can actually increase your fireplace's efficiency. If you are going down this route be sure that you thoroughly check, clean and (if necessary) repair your chimney first.
Alternatively you can get stoves on their own without actually installing them into fireplaces. Some questions to ask when shopping for stoves that might be of help would be the following:
- How much space do I need to heat?
- What's my budget?
- How often will it be used?
- Will it be a potential hazard if young children are going to near it?
- Do I need any safety equipment to operate it? How expensive will that be?
When it comes to fireplaces you might ask yourself some similar questions but also some different ones like:
- Will I need dampers for the fireplace, how will they be to maintain?
- How efficient will this fireplace be in conserving heat?
- Does my existing chimney work for a potential fireplace installation?
- Will I need to get doors, heat shields or glass windows for my fireplace?
- Will it suit my house design more just to get a fireplace insert where a stove would actually be built into the fireplace?
So overall there are both pros and cons in taking up either option of a stove or a fireplace, or even a combination of the two. So think long and hard when making your choice when it comes to heating your home during the cold weather.