There are several fireplace accessories that can improve the heating efficiency of a traditional woodburning fireplace but if significant gains are to be made then the only add-on accessory to consider is a fireplace insert. All traditional woodburning fireplaces should have a damper located in the throat of the chimney or flue above the fire. A damper is basically a hinged metal lid within an iron frame that can regulate the flow of air up the chimney by its opening or closing. As a result this controls how much air the fire receives and thus the rate at which it burns. When not using the fireplace leaking drafty dampers can be rectified using inflatable plastic flue sealers. The use of fireplace doors and fireplace screens also reduce heat loss as both products are designed to reduce airflow and thus heat loss up the chimney.
Heat exchangers have become a popular fireplace accessory as a way of recovering heat that has escaped into the chimney. These are often a series of pies around the chimney or firebox. Using circulated air from the room, sometimes aided by a fan, latent heat is absorbed and fed into the room. If kept clean a 5-10% increase in heating performance can be expected.
However the best fireplace accessory upgrade is the installation of a fireplace insert. These are wood-, pellet-, or gas-fuelled appliances that fit into a conventional open fireplace that are available in many designs and styles including use of decorative tile, cast iron or enamelled fronts with glass doors, brass trim and handles. Most fireplace inserts now available are controlled-draft units, featuring manual or thermostatically controlled air inlets and fully gasketed doors. For those who wish to avoid the cleaning gas fireplace accessories and inserts are available as well as gel fuel fired fireplace inserts. There are many fireplace accessories catalogs available from manufacturers such as Majestic. Fireplace accessories include the growing market in outdoor fireplace accessories and those decorative accessories like ash buckets, andirons, and fireplace screens and other antique fireplace accessories. For those searching the world-wide web for fireplace accessories the best results can be achieved by entering the words fireplace accessories and the town/city/state e.g. fireplace accessories Chicago or fireplace accessories phoenix Arizona . The net is by far the best resource for identifying where fireplace accessories for sale are available and where to obtain specialist items such as gas fireplace accessories and parts.
