Wood Fireplace Insert

The advanced combustion technology used in today's wood fireplace insert was developed in a serious effort by both the United States and Canada in order to reduce emissions from wood stoves and satisfy new environmental regulations. This new technology is available in new wood fireplace inserts which can be installed into an existing conventional fireplace.

The new technology includes a secondary combustion process that ensures more complete combustion of the wood and smoke. This creates two benefits. First, it increases the fireplace's operating efficiency and second, it reduces the amount of emissions escaping from the firebox.

The new inserts also use two separate preheated paths of combustion air. One of the air sources feeds directly into the burning wood while the other is aimed above the main fire to capture and ignite the incomplete combustion gases that would otherwise be released up the chimney. This double combustion air path also results in two simultaneous combustion zones and flame patterns in the insert.

This use of separate combustion zones reduces emissions by ten fold compared to a conventional fireplace. This enables the environmentally friendly use of wood, which is a renewable energy source. And added benefit is the low levels of creosote and incomplete combustion products which are released. This dramatically reduces the potential for chimney fires.

More Benefits of Modern Wood Fireplace Inserts

Inserts using advanced combustion technology have also include airtight, gasketed doors, and special ceramic glass windows that allow much of the infrared heat to be transmitted into the room. They also feature a hot air blower that "sweeps" the window with air to allow easy viewing of the fire.

New inserts also have better heat exchange properties than conventional fireplaces because room air is drawn by a fan through a grill under the firebox then sent through a heat exchanger and back into the room at the top of the fireplace. With some cases the heat can be ducted to adjacent rooms where an auxiliary fan can send it through ducts to the rest of the house.

Because these fireplace inserts have such little interaction with the house air the chances of combustion products leaking into the home are minimal. For enhanced safety and effectiveness outdoor air is supplied directly to the fireplace for combustion and the maze that is used for preheating the air before it goes into the firebox is designed to keep the combustion gases from escaping.

Advanced combustion fireplace inserts offer levels of energy efficiency that can be as high as 50 to 70% in a normal installation and even higher when installed in a major living area with an open view to other parts of the house. This means that the insert can provide much of the heating needs for the house and can reduce overall energy demand and dramatically lower heating bills, especially for homes heated by electricity.

A final benefit of a wood fireplace insert is the energy independence the provide. If there is a power failure, a new insert can still operate as an emergency heat source for the house. Even though the electrical circulating fan will not operate, the heat from the fire will radiate from the fireplace into the house by natural convection and supply a significant amount of heat to the home.