Electric Fireplace Insert
There are plenty of great reasons to enjoy a fire. The heat generated by a fireplace when its cold out is a wonderful way to way to warm everyone up using a natural source of heat. However, the work and concern over burning wood may lead to the fireplace sitting idle. If that is a concern of yours, a practical solution would be an electric fireplace insert. Soon enough, you can turn that fireplace into an active part of your family life again.
If you replace wood as the fuel source for your fireplace, you have two choices: gas or electricity. Gas is definitely more efficient than wood but you have to be very careful of venting the emissions properly. You have to get the smoke residue from a gas fire up the chimney and out of the house to be certain carbon monoxide does not get into the house and poise a health risk. Because the smoke from a gas fire is virtually invisible, it is hard to determine if the fumes from the fireplace are venting properly.
The beauty of an electric fireplace insert is that it replaces gas or wood with no resultant fumes or smoke to be concerned about. Actually, when you use an electric insert to generate heat from your firebox, there isn't even a fire because you are not really burning anything. Additionally, you completely eliminate the problem of lighting the fire because there is nothing to light. There is no need for a long match like you need with gas, nor do you need to set newspaper on fire likeyou do with wood. You just plug the electric insert in, flip a switch, and within a few moments, the elements are glowing in the fireplace providing a wonderful form of alternate heat for you and your family.
Using an electric fireplace insert will result in you using your fireplace a lot more. Its a fantastic option if you want that warm glow and the friendly feel of a functional fireplace during the fall and winter months.
Before switching over to an electric fireplace insert it is probably a good thing to acknoledge that some dislike replacing wood burning fireplaces with electric ones because to them it doesn't seem like a "real fire". There are "logs" for electric fireplaces that you can put into the insert that will pick up the glow of the elements and mimic the look and feel of real burning logs with none of the negatives of smoke and flames. Electric inserts certainly aren't the answer for everyone, but if you have stopped using your fireplace because of the reasons mentioned, I would say give an electric fireplace insert a chance as it may be just what you need to put the fireplace back to use.