Fireplace Insert

Enjoy Your Gas Fireplace Safely (And Often)!

by Adam De Caire | Dec 16, 2020 | Consumer News

A gas fireplace serves as one of the safest and most reliable appliances in the home, providing both heat and ambiance at a moment’s notice. Gas fireplaces are clean burning, require little maintenance, and can be an important source of heat in an emergency situation such as a power outage.

Because efficiency and safety are important issues, HPBAC recommends that a gas fireplace be professionally serviced at least once a year to ensure top performance and aesthetic appearance. A qualified professional inspects the burner, fan, venting, pilot light and thermostat, and even cleans the glass. Further, a carbon monoxide detector should be present in the home.

Here is a full list of recommendations to ensure you are getting the safest and most enjoyable experience out of your gas fireplace:

Safe setup

Keep a fire extinguisher on hand and place smoke detectors throughout the house. Test the smoke detectors and batteries regularly. See that the extinguisher is in good working order and that all family members know how to operate it.
Obtain a building permit prior to installing or replacing your hearth appliance, as required by the laws in your area.
Advise your insurance company about the installation or replacement of your hearth appliance.
Have your hearth appliance installed out of the way of foot traffic and away from furniture and draperies.
To fully understand the necessary steps involved in proper operation, read the manufacturer’s instruction manual for your specific hearth product.
If your hearth appliance is being installed in a home during construction or renovations, do not operate it until the area is thoroughly cleaned; drywall dust and other contaminants may harm the fan motors and burners.

Using your hearth appliance

Do not store combustible materials, gasoline or other flammable liquids near your hearth appliance.
Never leave a child alone in a room with a hearth appliance. If your child is not in a playpen, an adjustable gate system that fits most hearth appliance areas can be installed which allows adult access to the hearth appliance but keeps kids outside in the safety zone. Alternatively the same kind of safety gate system can be used to cordon off the entire room to prevent your child wandering into the room alone.

Regular maintenance

Clean the glass regularly (but never when it is hot). It is recommended to use a glass cleaning product specifically intended for fireplace glass, available through most hearth retailers or hardware stores. Never use abrasive products or ammonia-based cleaners which may scratch the glass surface.
Maintain your hearth appliance regularly in accordance with the manufacturers specifications, and industry best practices.

To discuss any of these matters, feel free to contact:

Adam De Caire

Director, Public Affairs
HPBA Canada
(647) 998-4235
adam@hpbacanada.org

Choosing Your Fireplace

by | Nov 28, 2019 | Heating Your Home, HPBAC Blog

Looking for a wood or gas fireplace? If you are thinking about adding a hearth appliance to your home or replacing an existing appliance you will want to consider which appliance makes the most sense for your space and your lifestyle. You will want your new fireplace to suit your décor, and there are many options when it comes to style, including contemporary and traditional looks. Woodburning and gas appliances both offer a variety of design elements to consider, such as linear and rectangular configurations, and see-through and three-or-four-sided bay fronts. The type of appliance installation is also an important factor in choosing the right fireplace for you. There are three options available.

Built-in Fireplaces

Even without a chimney, you can have a fireplace! The zero clearance fireplace allows you to place an appliance just about anywhere. This type of pre-fabricated fireplace is usually used in situations where there is no existing fireplace installation. You simply need a wall. Most zero clearance appliances are safe to install within inches of combustible material such as drywall and wood, and your qualified hearth specialist will direct you in to choosing the correct appliance for your situation. Depending on the location of the appliance and the fuel requirements, the exhaust pipe will exit directly through the wall or through the roof. Zero clearance wood or gas fireplaces offer excellent installation flexibility. Once you’ve chosen, have it installed by a qualified professional and finalize the decor to your taste.

Fireplace Inserts

A fireplace insert, or built-in fireplace, is a factory-built metal box that is designed to be installed in the existing cavity of a masonry or open fireplace. The insert turns your old, inefficient fireplace into an efficient, cleaner burning one, saving you money and providing much more effective heating. You’ll find many options available in this category of appliance, including style and fuel options.

Free-standing Stoves

Traditionally, free-standing stoves tended to be relegated to the basement and were mainly used for heating. Today, the stove, whether wood, gas or pellet, has many advantages. Installation usually does not require much finishing work. Modern stoves are now much more beautiful, efficient, and cleaner burning than ever before. Indeed, the stove is back in fashion and manufacturers have designed exciting new stoves with great new looks. Stoves are now counted among high-end appliances and are popular with design professionals.

You can now distinguish between the three types of hearth appliances and make the best choice for your home. Visit a HPBAC Specialty Hearth Retailer to see all the wonderful possibilities or visit manufacturer and local retailer websites.

Heating Your Whole Home

by | Mar 15, 2017 | Heating Your Home, HPBAC Blog

Did you know your fireplace, stove or insert – gas, pellet or wood – could have the ability to heat your whole home? It’s true! Fireplaces are beyond being just basement heaters or only having the heating output to warm your living room. With some planning and work, you could install a highly efficient wood burning appliance that gives you the aesthetic appeal of a fireplace with the practicality of a heating system for your home. Imagine, even during the coldest months of the year, turning your furnace down and only using the radiant heat from your fireplace to heat your home. Here are some things to consider.

Codes

Building and fire codes can differ region to region, so it is important you understand what your local codes cite with regards to wood burning and installation of a wood burning appliance before you move ahead with purchasing. There can be specifications on wall clearance, pipe diameters and extensions above the roof that dictate how your unit should be installed. It is always recommended you work with a local installer to make sure you are following your local codes.

Size

The appliance needs to be sized appropriately to suit the size of your home and the type of use you expect from it. Whether you would like your unit to heat your living room occasionally or your whole home on a daily basis will change the size of the firebox and heat output you require. Specialty hearth retailers are experts at finding you the right appliance for your home based on square footage and your use patterns.

Location

If you wish to use your hearth appliance to heat your whole home, it is best to have an open concept main floor where the unit can be installed in a central location. Hot air rises, so the warm air will naturally make its way to the upstairs of the home where the bedrooms are located. The basement will stay a bit cooler than the upper levels of the home, but with proper air circulation, warm air will still find its way downstairs. Of course, to ensure you have minimal heat loss, a well sealed and insulated home is important.

Air Circulation

To effectively heat your home with a fireplace or wood stove, it’s important to ensure adequate air circulation to disperse the heat. A great option for open concept homes is to turn the fan on for your forced air heating system to circulate the air and heat from your fireplace. The heat loss to vents will be unnoticeable. Ceiling fans set to reverse pull air up to the ceiling, forcing the warm air that collects at the top of the room to circulate downwards. Minor home renovations can be made to add ducting and vents into the rooms above to distribute the heat to upper levels of the home.

Zone Heating

Depending on the configuration of your home, it may be difficult to disperse the heat from your fireplace or stove effectively to all spaces of your home. Keep in mind that even turning your thermostat down during the day and letting your appliance heat the main areas of your home, and turning the thermostat up in the evenings to heat your bedrooms will still considerably reduce your reliance on your furnace, thereby reduce your energy bill.

The airtightness of your home is always something to be aware of when you are discussing home heating, regardless of your heating source. Increasing your home’s airtightness can have a dramatic impact on how much energy your home requires to maintain comfortable temperatures during the winter months.

Be Prepared When the Power Goes Out

by | Mar 15, 2017 | Heating Your Home, HPBAC Blog

Living in Canada, we’ve all experienced a bad winter storm. Freezing temperatures, piles of snow and, every so often, the power goes out, sometimes for days. Is your home ready for a power outage?

Be Prepared

You want to be sure you can feed your family and heat your home, or at least zones within your home. Be sure to have enough water (2 litres per person, per day) and nonperishable food available for up to 72 hours.

Heating Your Home

Are you prepared for your furnace and stove to be turned off for an extended period of time? Luckily, there are many products available that don’t run on electricity. Gas fireplaces, stoves and inserts are great secondary heat sources, especially when the power is out. Gas hearth appliances are designed to operate during a power failure. Some generate their own electricity or have battery back-up systems. It’s important to know which system you have for circumstances such as this. If your gas appliance has a battery back-up, make sure you have installed new batteries before every heating season.

Wood fireplaces, stoves and inserts are also great alternative heat sources. Be sure to have an adequate supply of fuel on hand. The radiant heat these units produce can warm your living spaces for days when necessary. There are fans available for freestanding woodstoves that help distribute heat through the room and require no electricity. They use the heat of the wood stove to power the fan.

Cooking Without Electricity

Some wood or gas burning stoves can also be used for heating food and water on top of the stove. Some wood and gas models have a second top layer. To improve the heat conductivity on these stoves, place your cook pot directly on the inner top. If your model is equipped with a trivet, remove it to access the inner top and maximize the heat conducted from the stove top. Some cook stoves even include an oven or a water reservoir for cooking and washing. Ovens or Dutch ovens can also be purchased separately to allow for even cooking on a stove. Take care to ensure there is no risk of the pot tipping over. It’s a good idea to purchase a thermometer with these units to maintain the heat more easily while cooking.

Cooking on your wood stove does require some forethought to allow the stove to function properly. Unlike an electric stove top there is no dial to regulate the temperature. You control the heat by the amount of wood you place in the stove and attention is required to manage the heat properly. For high heat, it’s important to establish a good, large fire. For slow cooking food such as chili, soup or leftovers, the fire should burn low and steady for a long time by adding only one or two pieces of wood at more frequent intervals. You can also let the fire die down to a bed of coals and cook foods in a small Dutch oven or a foil packet directly on the hot bed of coals. Practice cooking on your wood stove before a power outage occurs to give yourself a better idea of how your wood stove will heat and cook foods!

Use Your Barbecue (But Never Inside the Home!)

Another great appliance to use during a power outage is your barbecue. Although this may seem like a surprise to some, many grill owners continue to grill all year long. Although winter grilling takes a bit more time compared to grilling in the summer months, it is still a great way to prepare food – even when the power isn’t out. Check out our article on Winter Grilling.