There’s nothing like a fireplace to warm up in front of with a warm cup of cocoa while the family gathers around to watch a movie or enjoy some quality time together. You might feel like this is all the comfort you need on a cold night, so you go to the thermostat to shut it off.
But we’re here to warn you that this may not be your best option.
This wastes energy in the long run
Sure, for now may not feel as though you need your furnace or boiler to run with the fireplace on. But soon enough, you’ll be headed to bed, and you will need to turn the heater back on. By this time, the rooms have cooled by quite a bit, as have the air ducts, which means it will take a lot longer than it should to heat up the home. And this uses a lot of energy—more than it may have if you had left the heater on!
Your fireplace should not be used as a main home heater
Hopefully, you don’t try to use your fireplace as the main source of your home heat. For one thing, using a fireplace to heat a home is not necessarily more efficient than using a furnace, and it’s unsafe to leave a fireplace unattended. A fireplace can be an excellent source of heat for a short while, but it’s not a good idea to shut off the heater and leave it on overnight.
Maintaining efficiency with a fireplace and gas heating system
If you want to keep your heating system running smoothly and efficiently as you use your gas heater, you may decide to simply turn the temperature down by a few degrees. This can help you to cut back on energy use, and it won’t take the heater so long to get back up to normal temperatures.
You should also make sure the thermostat is not located too close to the fireplace. This can cause inaccurate readings that harm the overall efficiency of your heater.
2nd Generation Chimneys, Inc. offers chimney and fireplace services in Minneapolis, MN. Call us today!