We’re at that time of winter here in the Southern Tier region when coming home and relaxing by a fire in the fireplace is the perfect way to wind down after a long day.
What isn’t so perfect is all the work that’s involved with a wood-burning fireplace, from schlepping in firewood to building the fire to cleaning up the ashes afterward.
That work is one of the reasons many folks like you are looking to add a propane gas fireplace insert to their homes! What’s great about propane gas fireplace inserts is that they go into your existing masonry fireplace.
Propane gas fireplace inserts are an ideal solution for older homes where the masonry fireplace can no longer be used for wood fires without extensive and expensive repairs that can easily run into the thousands of dollars if not more.
With a propane gas insert, you can choose a direct-vent fireplace, where the exhaust can be vented out from the side of the house rather than up the chimney, or a vent-free fireplace, where the chimney is closed.
Both offer advantages. For example, a direct-vent fireplace offers more realistic flames. A ventless fireplace offers superior space heating because all the heat stays in your home rather than any being lost to venting outdoors.
Rinker Oil and Propane installs propane gas fireplace inserts and can help you choose the right one for your home.
You may be wondering about how much propane your new propane gas fireplace insert will use, as that may affect your propane bills. You might be surprised that it uses less propane than you think!
A propane fireplace that packs a 50,000 BTU capacity packages will burn through one gallon of fuel every two hours when working. On average, this means that you consume 1 gallon of propane for every 100,000 British thermal units (BTUs) your model requires.
This makes propane fireplaces more cost-effective than wood-burning fireplaces. For starters, the average price of a cord of wood can be $300 or more. That does not include delivery costs, which can be $75 or more, and stacking costs, which can be $80 or more.
Then there’s the matter of efficiency, where propane has absolute supremacy over wood. Today’s propane fireplace inserts are incredibly efficient, with efficiencies of 80% or more, providing much more warmth than a wood fire. In comparison, an astonishing 90% of the heat produced by a wood-burning fireplace is lost, going up the chimney! Have you ever felt how cold a room gets when your wood fire starts to die down? That’s because all that warm air has been drawn away through the flue!
If you have a large space to heat, such as a large family room or an open-concept living room, dining room, and kitchen, you can install a propane gas fireplace insert with multispeed blowers to ensure that the warmed air will reach all corners of your space.
Ready to get started on adding the comfort of a propane gas fireplace insert to your home? Contact Rinker Oil and Propane today to get started!
