When you’re renovating a house, you have a lot of options when it comes to how you design it. That’s one of the beauties of taking on a renovation project in the first place – you get to customize just about every aspect to your liking, as long as your time and budget allows.
One great feature in any house is a fireplace. It gives a central warmth where family friends can gather round, and this is especially loved when the weather outside is cold. If you’re renovating a house it’s always something worth considering, as it’s a great time to make accommodations for installing a fireplace. Even if you can’t install a traditional fireplace, there are some alternatives that you can implement to get much of the same benefits.
When A Traditional Fireplace Makes Sense
If the house you’re renovating already has a chimney, then it’s worth keeping even if you don’t think you’ll make use of it. The exception being those cases where you just need more room, and getting rid of the chimney is the only way to go about getting it. Removing existing chimneys takes a lot of work, and it’s a huge mess.
Now, if you’re someone who loves having a real fire in your house you’ll probably want to install a chimney if you don’t have one. Keep in mind that this is a big project that will certainly cost you quite a bit of money. Take a look at your numbers before you get started to make sure you’ll have enough to cover all of your important costs.
Gas Fireplace Alternatives
If you like the idea of a fireplace but you don’t want to burn wood in your house, then gas fireplaces can be a great alternative. They are substantially cleaner burning and as a result they are much safer for your home and much safer for the environment. They look great and they actually still have real flames, so many people are quite satisfied with them.
If you don’t have a chimney you can still install a gas fireplace, though you may need to get a little creative. Work with a contractor to find a good place to recess it into the wall. You’ll just need to make sure to have proper ducting for ventilating all of the heat that the flames will produce.
When It’s Best To Go Electric
In some cases you’re best off with an electric fireplace. The great thing about electric fireplaces is that there are no real flames, so you shouldn’t need any ducting. Granted, there are inserts that can still fit into existing fireplace hearths, so that’s still an option. But they’re also relatively easy to install in a number of different ways so you can really get creative with them.