Wood Fireplace

Ray asks,

I have a standard wood burning fireplace with no perks like a blower system. It really is not meant to heat the house but I would like to have it supply a little supplemental heat. I have heard that a fireplace like this is not the most efficent in the world. Is there some kind of system I could get to make it more efficent and possibly add some supplemental heat to the house? Thanks. Ray.

Our Answer

You are correct that fireplaces are very inefficient by themselves. The act of burning wood in a fireplace draws much of the heated air out of the house that may have been provided by your main heating system. So in effect, you're paying to heat air that goes up your chimney.

A better option might be to use a wood stove fireplace insert such as a Heatilator. These are more efficient because they extract more BTUs out of the wood that you burn, returning that back into your house.