A fireplace often becomes the heart of a home. It brings your family and friends together around the glowing hearth on chilly nights. Throughout the rest of the year, it often continues to be a gathering place. The mantel display can add warmth and beauty to the room or showcase family mementos year-round. Installing a new fireplace has the added benefit of increasing your home’s resale value.
If you are thinking about installing a new fireplace in your home, it is important to take into consideration your usage needs, renovation appetite, local building codes, and design preferences.
Usage Needs for Your Fireplace
What are your primary goals for installing a new fireplace? Are you planning to use it frequently as an alternative heat source to cut down on your energy costs or are you thinking of it more as a design feature to elevate the style of a room and increase your home’s value? How you answer these questions
should influence the type of fireplace that you choose to install.
If you are planning to use it as an alternative heating source, your best option will be a prefabricated wood or gas fireplace with a high energy efficiency rating. If you are concerned about its environmental impact, it is a good idea to invest in a fireplace model that has been certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which means that it meets or exceeds clean air standards. If aesthetics is your main concern, you may be more interested in a custom-built masonry or stone wood burning fireplace or an attractive electric fireplace. Traditional masonry and stone fireplaces, and electric fireplaces are less energy efficient than prefabricated wood or gas models, but one may be more in line with your design vision.
Renovation Appetite for a New Fireplace
Are you willing to be inconvenienced during a long renovation project or would you like a fireplace that can be installed within a day or two? Are you willing to pay up to $10,000 or would you like to pay a fraction of that? It is important to be honest with yourself about the answers to these questions. If you suspect that you would not have the patience to endure a long renovation, which comes with the risk of unexpected setbacks, it is wise to choose to have a prefabricated fireplace installed instead of a masonry or stone fireplace. Prefabricated fireplaces are also more cost effective than a masonry or stone fireplace.
The cost of a prefabricated fireplace unit and installation typically ranges from $1,500 to $3,000. In contrast to a custom-built masonry or stone fireplace that can cost between $7,000 to $10,000. New prefabricated gas and wood fireplaces are available in a wide range of styles from traditional to modern. They make a beautiful addition to any home.
Local Fireplace Building Codes
Every state and municipality have different building codes for fireplaces. Your city or town may have mandatory requirements that dictate the permissible emission levels, gas line position, location of the vent to an exterior air supply, chimney height, and more. Working with a local hearth provider, like FyrePro, with a knowledgeable team of hearth experts who keep up with local building codes is the best way to ensure that you choose a fireplace that meets local standards and is installed correctly. You don’t want to end up purchasing a fireplace model that doesn’t meet your state or city’s safety or building codes.
Fireplace Design Preferences
Whether you opt to have a prefabricated fireplace installed or a custom fireplace built, you have a wide variety of design options to choose from. Often you can choose everything from the style of the mantel or surround to the firebox. Many gas fireplace models even allow you to customize the appearance of the fire display such as choosing between different faux log sets, or fire glass. When you choose a gas fireplace, you can also pick between convenient features such as remote control or thermostat operation. You are sure to find the right fireplace to suit your style and home décor with all of the options available.
The best way to find the perfect fireplace for your home is by visiting a showroom with live burning fireplace models and a knowledgeable team of hearth experts. You can find both at FyrePro, Inc. the premier fireplace and stove shop in the area. You will find the best selection of top-rated fireplaces from leading manufacturers. That is why customers from Norther Colorado to Southern Wyoming come to our showroom in Fort Collins, CO for all their fireplace needs!