There is something truly magical about a functional fireplace in the living room of a family home. You just seem to gravitate towards this feature as the heat and flames capture the entire room’s imagination. It makes you think about years gone by, when you were a youngster on vacation, or maybe visiting your grandparents for Christmas. You dare not get too close, but you can’t resist and eventually feel the warm glow against your skin. Fireplaces seem to be making a renaissance in modern homes, and they come in all shapes and sizes. Here we take a look at the practical reasons why you should think about fireplaces when you next get the home improvement bug in your system.

 Great In Bad Weather Conditions

Whether your fireplace is set up to burn wood or coal, it is totally independent on external power sources. For some reason, power cuts tend to be more frequent during the winter months. Instead of being huddled around a solitary candle, you can be as warm as toast in front of your beautifully flaming fireplace. Don’t be surprised if you hear a knock on your door though, the neighbors will probably be queuing up for a slice of the action.

Multifunctional Options

Some fireplaces are designed so that they can power a cooking stove as well as heat your home nicely. You can make a lovely winter stew in the morning and keep it simmering for days as you smile, knowing the gas or electricity bill will not be affected. You can pretend to be on an exploring trip with your kids and get hold of some marshmallows on sticks, and heat up some hot chocolate on the stove.

Ambience With a Warm Smile

As we have already mentioned, the fireplace is one of those features that just keeps on giving. It is a living entity in your front or back room and your entire family will wonder how on earth they managed without it before. Imagine the scene at next Christmas Eve, your children and faithful dog all curled up around the fireplace as ‘Santa’ carefully hangs the festive stockings, pure magic!

Form with Economic Functionality

As well as the beauty of your new focal point, you can look forward to lower fuel bills in the immediate future. If your fireplace is a standalone model, it will happily heat your front or back room for the price of a bag of coal or wood every week or so. If you connect the fireplace up to your heating duct system, it will move the heat around your home. You will soon recoup the cost of installing the unit. If you can install or design a fireplace that heats your home and also cooks your food, you will be taking a big step towards becoming non-dependant on the big utility companies that hike up the charges whenever they see fit. In the summertime, you can clean out the furnace and the fireplace will still add a touch of class to your living room.

Attached Images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source

Today’s guest post is courtesy Mark Whinehouse, a dealer of marble in New York. Home renovation is an issue very close to his heart and wishes to have a fireplace for his home. When he is in the peacuful confines of his home, he lets his creative juices flow and writes about home improvement.