Fireplace Designs
There is nothing more inviting on a cold Winter's night than a sitting in front of a warm fireplace. While many people think that fireplaces are reserved for the Northern states, they can, in fact, be found in nearly every state, regardless of the average Winter temperatures. Fireplaces can provide a beautiful backdrop to a family gathering at the holidays, offer a romantic retreat for couples looking for some down time, or even make the ideal gathering spot during an outdoor get together. If you are looking at buying a fireplace, or just having one built, there are several key decisions regarding fireplace designs that need to be made before you're ready to commit. Not only do you need to decide where the fireplace will be built, you must also determine what style of fireplace you are interested in and what fuel source you will use to power it.
Fireplace Locations
When planning for a new fireplace, location is everything. It is also the first choice you will need to make before beginning to look at various styles available. The two major categories that fireplaces fall into are, of course, indoor and outdoor.
If you are interested in a fireplace solely for heating purposes, chances are an indoor fireplace would be your best bet. Indoor fireplaces are almost always fixed installations, typically located in one of the larger rooms of the house, most often a master bedroom or living room. Indoor fireplaces are also designed to provide a pleasing visual impact as well, often adding a more inviting atmosphere to the room and the house in general. Indoor fireplaces come in a wide range of styles and can be found in anything from traditional fireplaces designs to contemporary fireplace designs.
Outdoor fireplace designs, on the other hand, are generally designed strictly for social gatherings. While they are still often very beautiful in design, they do tend to prize function over form. While many outdoor units are fixed installs, similar to indoor designs, there are several types of outdoor fireplace designs that can be considered portable in the sense that, depending on their size, can be easily moved form one area to another to accommodate the particular heating needs for the day. This portability is primarily due to the fact that most outdoor fireplace designs don't necessarily require the same venting setup that indoor fireplaces must often rely on.
Fireplace Designs
Once you have determined what type of fireplace you are interested in, outdoor or indoor, it's time to start taking a look at the various designs offered within each category. Designs should be selected based on desired placement and intended use above all else. While they may not seem connected, these choices can also play a large part in whether your new unit will fall into a contemporary fireplace design, a traditional design, or something altogether in a class by itself.
Outdoor Fireplace Design
One of the more traditional reasons people enjoyed outdoor fireplaces was because they offered a means of outdoor cooking. They were much more visually appealing than a standard grill, while also offering a greater opportunity for social gatherings. Unlike a grill, an outdoor fireplace was able to heat the people surrounding it as easily as it was heating the food placed above or in it.
The two basic categories of outdoor fireplaces are fixed and portable. Fixed fireplaces are generally built into an exterior wall or as a freestanding unit. Those built into a wall were designed to offer forward facing access and were often somewhat wider in nature than a traditional fireplace, offering a larger heating area in front. These were also generally built to resemble old fashioned hearth, once common as an indoor cooking and heating fixture.
Freestanding units, on the other hand, could either be portable or fixed in their design. Fixed units were often large in stature and designed to allow people to gather around the fire on multiple sides. They are typically built in either a square design, offering four cutout areas on each facing for access to the fire, or in a rounder shape, containing supports at various intervals to provide multiple points of access while still being able to support the upper portion of the structure. Some outdoor units were also constructed to resemble large fire pits, containing no upper portion at all and designed more for gathering purposes than cooking.
Portable outdoor units are often referred to as fire pits on the market. This can be anything from small metal boxes, to large clay fire pits. They can also be built into the center of outdoor tables, ideal for social gatherings with family and friends around a conveniently placed fireplace. While most fire pits can be moved to accommodate any outdoors location, some are more restricted depending on the power source they are utilizing.
Indoor Fireplace Design
Like outdoor fireplace units, indoor designs are also most common in fixed wall installations. The most common styles of fireplace, in fact, are those built into exterior walls of the house, located in master bedrooms or living rooms as mentioned earlier. The fireplaces can be small and quaint, or extremely bold and of substantial size. This is typically by the size of the room. In fact, many fireplace manufacturers and builders can recommend the ideal size fireplace based solely on the measurements and layout of the room it is being installed in. Corner fireplaces installations are also an option, often recommended for more unusual room layouts.
For a more contemporary fireplace design, some units are installed in thick interior walls, often providing access to both rooms on either side of the wall. This style is ideal for homes that have two social oriented rooms that share a single wall. Keep in mind, however, that these types of fireplaces often require major construction modifications and can be costly to install.
Another indoor fireplace choice, ideal for open floor plans, is a freestanding unit similar to those found in outdoor design. These designs are often round or square in shape, identical to their outdoor counterparts, while possessing a more refined visual appearance. Freestanding units indoors will still require ventilation access, leading to the fact that they are almost always floor to ceiling structures.
Fireplace Construction
With regards to overall visual presentation, the primary decisions lies in the materials chosen for the fireplace construction. While most fireplaces are constructed of block, their external surfaces are typically more decorative in nature. Brick fireplace designs have long been a popular choice for their ability to match nearly any décor. A brick fireplace design is also much more traditional in appearance than many other styles may be. Stone fireplace designs are also gaining in popularity, as people are beginning to rediscover that a natural stone fireplace design has to offer a room. Other materials that can be used in fireplace design include tile, able to create beautiful mosaic patterns or simply standard tile designs. Outdoor fire pits are also commonly found made of clay, preferred for its lightweight nature as well as it durability and high temperature tolerance.
Fireplace Power Sources
The final choice when it comes to choosing the ideal fireplace is what type of power source you wish your unit to run on.
Wood burning fireplaces are, of course, the most popular choice as they are also the most traditional power source for fireplaces. Wood burning units are simple to operate and only require adequate wood stores be kept for easy operation. In areas where firewood is not readily available, there are store bought logs that simulate true wood burning logs in appearance and heating capacity. Wood burning fireplaces are also the most common choice in heavily forested areas, as firewood is often free for the taking with a little manual labor. It is not uncommon for people with wood burning fireplaces to occasionally cut wood throughout the year in order to stock up for the colder months. Wood burning fireplaces do require regular cleanings and maintenance can sometimes be considered time consuming.
Gas fireplace designs are also very popular and are the power choice for homes already connected to natural gas lines. The propane gas fireplace design is also a common sight, preferred over natural gas at times because it does not require gas lines to be run through the entire house. These units, in fact can operate off portable propane tanks similar to those used for gas powered grills or portable heaters. Regardless of which type of gas being used, safety is always a primary concern as proper ventilation is of the utmost importance to avoid any ill effects from gas inhalation or exposure. Another major downside is the fact that many people feel gas fireplaces are too artificial in their overall appearance, primarily die to their lack of real wood and real flames.
The final choice for fireplace power sources is electricity. While electric fireplaces may not provide the true fireplace experience, as the flames are often simulated and the logs made of ceramic like gas designs, they are the safest to run and easiest to maintain.
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