Category Archives: Background

Fireplace Accessories – Creating Your Personal Fireplace

Posted by Mark on April 13, 2012 Comments Off

Maybe you have just finished installing your own open fireplace in your home. Maybe you have just bought a new home complete with an already installed fireplace. Or you have decided that it is time for a new look in your living room – and this includes your fireplace. Whatever the reason, you are looking for the right accessories to realize your plans. You are likely looking first for basic information: what kind of fireplace accessories are available? Which are the ones I want to have? What do I need to know about them? Here at the Outdoor Fireplace Review we want to help you with these questions. This article is a good place to start, as we will explain what kind of accessories are available for your fireplace.

Fireplace accessories can be loosely grouped into four categories: tools, items for the surroundings of your fireplace, decorations and miscellaneous small things. Let us look at these groups in detail.

Fireplace tools are any devices you will need to either start a fire, maintain a fire or clean the fireplace afterwards. Examples for fire-starting tools are lighters and bellows as well as special fire starters. To maintain a fire, every fireplace should be equipped at least with tongs, a poker and a shovel. Usually, these tools are available as a set. For cleaning, special cleaner fluid, ash buckets and fireplace brooms are available.

The immediate surroundings of your fireplace are mostly influenced by the design of your fireplace. Depending on its style -whether old-fashioned or modern- a wide variety of accessories for storing firewood are available. Different types of log holders made of iron or steel and log carrier baskets and bags are examples of this. Other items are hearth rugs and hearth pads. Pads are made mostly out of fire-resistant tiles and are usually used with stoves. Hearth rugs come in many different forms and materials and are designed for use with an open fireplace as well.

Fireplace decorations are mostly a question of taste. Candles, lamps and clocks are classic accessories, however, pictures or plants often add an important personal touch. Other typical items would be seasonal ornaments like spring, fall or Christmas decorations.

Other fireplace accessories are for example firebacks, large iron plates installed at the back of your fireplace which store heat from the fire and radiate it back into the room, thereby improving the efficiency of your fireplace. Also, the logs must be arranged properly inside the firebox before starting a fire to ensure optimal air circulation. Fireplace grates and andirons are used for this purpose. Finally, you may want to use your fireplace for heating water or even cooking, especially if it is an outdoor fireplace.

Whatever accessories you are looking for, we provide detailed information in specific articles at our site. Enjoy, and hopefully you will find the items you are looking for.

The Electric Fireplace: Introduction and General Overview

Posted by Mark on May 31, 2011 Comments Off

Electric fireplaces have undergone an impressive development in recent years. Gone are the early days when their obviously fake flames and unreal looks failed to capture anyone’s imagination. Today, practically all electric fireplaces on the market feature a very realistic and professional design that will surprise many when they see an actual electric fireplace for the first time: often, prospective buyers cannot spot an electric fireplace among its gas counterparts during a store visit. Still, an electric fireplace is not a fireplace in the true sense of the word: there is nothing burning at all. This, however, has not kept sales of these units from rising tremendously in recent years. To understand better what electric fireplaces have to offer, take a look at their features, the available types, their installation, prices and costs, and finally, their advantages and disadvantages.

All electric fireplaces produce visual effects designed to closely resemble an actual wood-burning fireplace: “flames” made from fabric are moved by the air from a small blower, while glowing lights and even simulated burning embers add to the overall impression. Additionally, many units contain an electric fireplace heater which generates heat for distribution into the surrounding room by a fan. To control operations, most electric fireplaces come equipped with devices found usually also in gas fireplaces: an instant on/off switch with optional timer settings and a remote control.

There are three main types of electric fireplaces available: electric fireplace logs, electric fireplace inserts, and free-standing electric stoves. Electric logs are simple and cheap and can be easily installed into a real fireplace as an add-on for the summer months. Electric fireplace inserts consist of an entire self-contained housing also designed for installation into an existing fireplace cavity. They are designed tp generate more heat than logs and are typically built for permanent installation, requiring significant effort to remove. Finally, free-standing electric stoves are available in many varieties, for example simulating old-fashioned wood ovens or more modern designs.

The installation of an electric fireplace is far simpler than that of any other fireplace, in fact, for someone with experience in home improvement, do-it-yourself installation is definitely possible. Most units simply need a regular 100-120 Volt power plug-in, while large electric fireplace inserts may require a 240 Volt connection.

The prices for electric fireplaces start around $200-$500 for electric logs and $500-$2000 for free-standing stoves. A simple corner electric fireplace costs between $500 and $1000, while more elaborate inserts can be found from $1000 up to more than $2000. Still, compared to gas or wood fireplaces, electric models are by far the cheapest solution.

There are numerous advantages associated with an electric fireplace: first, only a power connection is required – no venting and no fuel is needed. Nothing is burning, there are no fumes and no soot. The appliance is plugged into a standard outlet and uses only minimal electricity: on average equivalent to 2-3 light bulbs for visual flame effects. However, an electric fireplace heater will use 10 to 20 times more electric power than that. It can be switched on and off conveniently, can be tuned to an exact heating level, and requires minimum maintenance effort: no fireplace-specific cleaning needs to be done and no firewood or gas must be supplied. Many free-standing units are small, even movable. Electric fireplaces are “zero clearance” devices, installable anywhere in the house. Realizing a small corner electric fireplace is as easily possible as installing a free-standing unit in the middle of the room.

By far their biggest advantage is however the separation of the visual “flames” effect from the heating function. Both can be turned on and off independently, for example to use only the visual aspects during hot summer months or to ward off a chill in a dark bedroom with the electric fireplace heater.

With all these advantages, it must be remembered that an electric fireplace is, in fact, not a real burning fireplace. Being dependent on electricity, it cannot be used during a power outage. Also, the heater alone is -like all electric heaters- less efficient than a comparable unit running on gas or wood.

In summary, electric fireplaces have become more and more attractive over the last years. While they cannot replace a real gas— oder wood-burning fireplace, they have many interesting features to offer, especially for buyers on a tight budget or for those whose housing situation does not allow for a fireplace using real flames. In any case, the information provided above should help prospective buyers to make an informed decision and get the most out of their new fireplace.

Introduction to the Outdoor Fireplace

Posted by Mark on May 10, 2009 Comments Off

Chances are, you have come to our site because you are considering to buy or build an outdoor fireplace in your garden. Here, we want to give you all the information on available models, places to go for more information and general knowledge you need in order to make an informed decision.

Outdoor FireplaceHaving a fireplace in one’s home has always been the wish of a majority of homeowners. The fascination with fire has attracted people since ancient times, and does so no less in current times. Recently, this trend has taken a new direction: building or setting up an outdoor fireplace in the garden or on the patio has become a way to extend the living room to the outdoors, increase the space of one’s house and provide an opportunity to enjoy more and also colder nights outside.

Outdoor fireplaces can serve multiple purposes: apart from being a source of heat which makes it possible to use your patio on chilly summer nights as well as during colder seasons, it can serve as a barbecue or grill as well. Most fireplace variants can be outfitted with the necessary equipment easily at low cost.
Generally speaking, there are two types of outdoor fireplaces: portable ones that you can carry around in your garden, and built-in ones.

The portable ones can be grouped into three designs: chimineas, fire pits and fire rings. Chimineas are traditional Mexican fireplaces consisting of a bowl-shaped lower part and a narrower chimney on top. Fire pits are large open bowls supported by usually three to four legs, while fire rings are composed of metal sheets forming a closed ring.

The built-in ones can be either fixed fire pits build into the ground or an individual construction like an outdoor stone fireplace which typically resembles a classical indoor fireplace. A large variety of options exists for these kinds of fireplaces, with space and available money being the main limitations.

Both chimineas and individual constructions basically consist of three components: the firebox, where the fuel is burned, the smoke chamber above the firebox, and a flue. The main types of fuel used are wood, charcoal and pressed wooden logs in all types of fireplaces as well as gas for built-in ones. An outdoor gas fireplace is naturally a more elaborate construction than any of the other types. On the other hand, they have the advantage of being much cleaner in operation than an outdoor wood fireplace or charcoal-fueled types, with propane and natural gas being the main types of fuel used.

With this background information at hand, you can now take a look at detailed information on your favorite type of outdoor fireplace: either portable or built-in. You can also find out more about their operation and required maintenance or about places to go for further information.