So your house has a beautiful living room/den, and at the very focal point of this area is a fireplace?  You have spent lots of time, energy, and money designing the room…now it’s fall/winter and your wondering how do we finish off the fireplace?

I have been to many client’s homes and the fireplace was still like the “red-headed stepchild” in the room?  Fireplaces remain the focal point in the rooms where they are built, hence our obsession of hanging new flat screen TVs above the fireplace.
However, many of us still seem content at staring at this “black empty abyss” of a fireplace not sure what to do?  The fact is, the culture of using the fireplace at home has gone by the waist side, and there is a generational “gap” of people with fireplace knowledge.  Now this “gap” varies depending on where you live in the country (i.e. Florida vs. Maine), but here in Atlanta where we can receive cold nights and days, many of the homes are heated with gas furnaces practically eliminating the fireplace role in “heating” the home.  So a fireplace ends up being a hobby activity engaged by few.
Used properly, fireplaces can not only satisfy our primal instincts of watching the flames dance, but can also truly enhance our at-home lifestyles.  Fireplaces substantially increase the ambiance of a room and as the holiday seasons draw near, can be a good way to engage a family activity with the TV turned off!
Below are some common types of fireplaces we encounter here in Atlanta:
Wood-Burning Fireplace (Vented)- most common type of fireplace.  Wood burning fireplaces are either made of stone (masonry) or what I see a lot of here are pre-fabricated metal fireplaces (pre-fab).  Many builders use pre-fab wood burning fireplaces because of the ease of installation, and the pre-engineering of the vent-pipe and smoke catch. In either case, both types of open wood burning fireplaces can have gas lines brought to them so users can easily start a wood burning using a gas source.
Vent-Free Fireplace- Usually a metal pre-fab structure, these fireplaces have no chimney system and all the emissions from a fire comes into the house.  These types of fireplaces will have a gas line run to them, and require the use of an approved “vent-free” gas log system designed to burn very clean as a supplemental hot air system into your space.
 Direct-Vent Fireplace- It’s easy to identify a direct-vent fireplace in your home.  These fireplaces will have a “fixed” piece of glass ceramic over the entire opening of your fireplace.  They usually operate off a switch on the wall, and burn only gas and can add hot air and radiant heat into your home.  These fireplaces will not have a traditional chimney, and usually will vent out sideways out of your home instead of straight up.
Stoves – These can be referred to as “pot-belly” stoves that sit inside your living space, protected by stone or brick surrounds.  Stoves are available in both gas/wood burning versions, and can do one heck of a job heating a room and/or the entire house.  What’s neat about stoves today is they can really improve the efficiency of fuel burning and owners can get a lot “bang” for the fuel buck.  Stoves can also be “inserted” into a traditional fireplace and used…these are known as wood/gas stove inserts.
Here in Atlanta, most homes have wood-burning pre-fabs and direct vent fireplace systems.  Get familiar with the type of fireplace you have at home, and START using it!   They can be a great extra source of heat and fun at-home!