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The hearth truly defines the center of the home. There is something remarkable about the warm glow of radiant heat that a fire gives to a room. It keeps you warm when it's nasty and cold outside, and it beautifully reminds you that you’re home - safe from the elements!
From a hearth terminology standpoint, there are a few types of fire-based heating and/or decorative devices.
- Masonry Fireplace: These are typically your traditional brick fireplace, designed to burn wood. They typically pull air for combustion from the room, make-up air, and most of the heat produced goes straight up the chimney, taking much-conditioned air from the room with it. Its critical masonry fireplaces have a well-functioning damper to shut the chimney when not in use do air you spent money warming up does not flow up the chimney, making your furnace work harder.
- Manufactured Fireplaces, also known as ‘Zero-Clearance’ Fireplaces, these are metal boxes designed to be built into a wall with wood stud framing hence the term ‘zero-clearance’ – they can be built right up to 2X4 stud walls. These can be wood-fired or gas, either natural gas – ‘street gas’ or LP, Liquid Propane.
- Fireplace Insert – this is a metal box that slides into an existing masonry fireplace and turns it from a drafty, inefficient thing in your home into a modern, efficient appliance that will keep you warm at night. Fireplace inserts can be fueled by gas or wood. The interior dimensions of your existing masonry firebox are necessary to select an appropriate fireplace insert. Use this form to measure your fireplace, then bring it to a hearth professional such as Villa Terrazza.
- Stove – Think of a Franklin-style stove here, a metal box that is gas-fired or wood-fired, and can be placed just about anywhere. Heating stoves have come a long way since the Franklin stove and we can help you find a heating stove that compliments your decor while heating your home.
- Log set – A gas log set is a burner with artificial logs. These typically have an ember bed that glows and flickers while the fire is burning. By law, the flue must be blocked in the ‘open’ position, so there is no chance someone might light the log set with the flue closed. Gas log sets look great but are incredibly inefficient – all the heat goes right up the chimney.
Fireplaces, Inserts, & Stoves come in many different styles, sizes, and fuel sources. The primary fuel sources are:
Firewood should be a hardwood, oak, walnut, poplar, as opposed to softwoods, such as pine. Firewood should also be well seasoned, dried for at least a year after it has been cut, so it burns cleanly. Burning wood that is not properly seasoned or the incorrect type can cause excessive creosote, a tar-like by-product of a fire not burning hot enough, buildup in the chimney, which can result in a chimney fire – which is a very bad thing that can cause your home to burn down. It's very important to have your chimney periodically inspected and cleaned regularly by a licensed hearth professional so creosote buildup is removed before it creates an unsafe situation for you and your family.
Gas – Gas fireplaces are a great way to have the beautiful orange flames of a wood fire with the convenience and efficiency of gas. You get the convenience of not having to make a fire – you simply grab the remote and turn it on! Gas fireplaces in the state of California must be vented to the outside. This is for good reason, as one of the by-products of combustion of a gas fireplace is CO, Carbon Monoxide, which is an odorless gas that makes you go to sleep and not wake up. This is why gas appliances, such as fireplaces and hot water heaters are always vented to the outside.
Modern gas-fired hearth products use a technology known as ‘Direct Vent’. Fire needs oxygen to burn – this is called ‘Make-Up’ air. Direct Vent gas fireplaces utilize a bi-directional flue, where outside air is brought into the firebox via one pathway and flue gas leaves through the other to outside. With a Direct Vent system, air in the room that you spent money warming up does not go out of the house via your chimney – it stays right where you want it to be – in your living room! Contrast Direct Vent to the old style ‘B-Vent’, where make-up air comes from the room, and then flows right up the chimney. Guess which is more efficient? Yup! Direct Vent - by a LOT!
Gas comes in 2 variants: Natural Gas, aka ‘street gas', the gas from the utility company. The other is LP, Liquid Propane. Water boils at 100°C or 212°F, becoming a gas, steam. In contrast, LP, propane gas boiling point temperature is -42°C or -44°F, becoming gas vapor. LP stays liquid because it is under pressure in a gas cylinder. Both types of gas burn cleanly. Gas usage is normally measured in “BTU’s”, British Thermal Units, which is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 lb of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit.
Ethanol – Derived these days from corn, ethanol alcohol is a fuel that is typically turned to gel to make it safer to handle. Ethanol fireplaces typically have a vessel that gets filled with ethanol built into it. Ethanol fireplace products normally do not need to be vented to the outside. They are not a realistic heat source, they are simply decorative.
Pellet – Pellet hearth products are engineered to burn little kernels of chopped cellulose – basically wood by-products. Pellet hearth products use some type of electric auger system to feed the pellets into the combustion chamber in a controlled fashion. These moving parts can sometimes fail and are messy to service. There is no accepted standard for the manufacture of wood pellets, so they tend to have different inherent BTU embedded ratings. We do not normally recommend pellet hearth products.
Ventless Gas Appliances – Sometimes folks doing their own research ask us about non-vented, also called ventless or vent-free gas fireplaces, inserts, or log set. These are gas appliances that are engineered to operate without a flue system – they release the by-products of combustion directly into the room. Vent-free gas fireplace products are illegal in the state of California, for good reason, Villa Terrazza does not sell them.
Visit Sonoma Add Warmth
& Ambiance To Any Room In Your Home
Villa Terrazza helps you add a gas or wood fireplace, fireplace insert or stove anywhere in your home. We love collaborating with you to make sure your heating choice fits your lifestyle and home design.
Not only do fireplaces, fireplace inserts and heating stoves add warmth to any room, they also add a stylish design element that is a focal point where people can gather. It is worth the trip to Sonoma to talk with one of our experts and see our extensive selection that can add ambiance to your home while reducing your utility costs.
Thinking about making your home a warmer place for you and your family to gather? Let Villa Terrazza help you create that hearth you’ve always dreamed of, a place for the family fires to burn brightly. We offer knowledgeable fireplace sales, expert design guidance, and factory-trained installation services to help you create the fireplace you’ve always wanted. Visit us today and let's chat about making your dream a reality!
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