Increasing Your Energy-Efficiency

Energy-efficient Options for heating

There are a lot of reasons why you might be concerned with more energy-efficient heating: saving money, cutting down on pollution or warming up your space more quickly and more thoroughly. You might just want to add more value to your home by updating an old, inefficient appliance with a more beautiful and more functional new one.

Whatever your reason, you have lots of different options for making your home heating more energy efficient, and these are just a few.

Think About Upgrading To A New, Energy-Efficient Prefabricated Unit

While beautiful, many older wood-burning fireplaces and stoves aren’t the most efficient appliances in the world. But we’ve made great strides in fireplace, stove and insert design over the years, and EPA-certified units on the market today can achieve nearly complete combustion, producing more heat, far less waste and much lower levels of creosote and pollutants. That increased efficiency is true whether you’re burning wood or gas.

A key part of getting the most out of a new, energy-efficient appliance, though, is making sure you have the right one for the space you’re trying to heat. (Adding a unit that’s too big for that space could lead you to waste fuel and produce excess smoke and toxic gases). Chimney Saver Solutions technicians can help you find the right unit for your space, and install it properly.

With a new, EPA-certified appliance, you’ll be using a lot less fuel and getting more out of your unit, and you can feel confident that you’re being proactive about the world around you, lessening your home’s impact on the local air quality.

Consider “Rumford-Izing” Your Masonry Fireplace

Installing a new, factory-built or prefabricated appliance is one option to increase energy efficiency, but if you prefer the look and durability of masonry, you can still augment your existing fireplace through “Rumford-ization.” The “Rumford” in that term refers to Benjamin Thompson, better known as Count Rumford, who created a heating- and fuel-efficient fireplace design that was massively popular in the late-1700s. Rumford’s design fell out of favor in the middle of the next century, but we’ve been seeing a Rumford renaissance recently, which makes sense — the Count’s design remains an incredibly effective and efficient one.

Rumford fireplaces have a shallower and taller firebox with more broadly angled side walls, and a rounded throat. The firebox shape allows for more heat to be effectively directed into the room, and the rounded throat aids flow, so that you have a more efficient burn, a more efficient draft and toxic byproducts are more effectively ushered out of your home.

Existing chimney systems can be Rumford-ized, and homeowners generally see a marked increase in efficiency (and if smoking issues were present, this often helps stop them). Chimney Saver Solutions technicians routinely improve older fireplaces and chimney systems by integrating Rumford’s design — but we can also help with any other fireplace improvements you might need, from restoration work to rebuilding. Give us a call!