If you’ve thought of installing a fireplace in your home for the natural aesthetics, you may wonder if a traditional wood-burning fireplace or a gas fireplace is the right choice. While wood fireplaces were once the most common, more and more people have discovered the benefits of gas fireplaces. If you want to learn more, keep reading.

You Have No Need for Wood

A gas fireplace uses natural gas to create the flame, unlike wood-burning fireplaces, which use wood. Wood is an affordable fuel option but has many complications. First, you need to find a place to store the firewood.

You have to keep the wood away from your home to reduce the risk of infestation from pests hiding in the wood. Even then, however, pests may take a ride on the firewood to get inside your home. Wood will also leave behind messy ashes that need regular cleaning, but a gas fireplace leaves no residue.

In addition to being cleaner to use, gas fireplaces are easier to use because they don’t need wood. With a wood fireplace, you need to be able to build a fire or buy a special burning log. A gas fireplace turns on and off with the flip of a switch.

A fireplace is always the focal point of whatever room it’s in but never more so than during the holiday season. The cozy warmth and soft light make it ideal for gathering around to sing carols, read old stories, or enjoy the company of dear family and friends. If you want to amp up the holiday spirit around your fireplace this year, follow a few of the tips below and celebrate the season in style.

1. Colors

Whatever color scheme you set up in your living room’s year-round decorations, make sure it’s easily adaptable for the holiday season. Forest greens and soft whites make a festive backdrop for Christmas colors, especially if you have some deep red ornaments to put up. The natural brick color of your fireplace and the light of the fire itself will complement this color scheme superbly.

As winter fast approaches, are you looking for a festive or seasonal way to enhance your business and draw more people inside? The addition of an electric commercial fireplace is one option many bars, restaurants, hotels, offices, and other unique businesses can benefit from.

Read on to learn more about how you can elevate your business with the addition of an inviting fireplace.

Create a Focal Point

When customers or guests first step into your business, you want to capture their attention. A fireplace in your lobby or dining area does just that. Your fireplace will create a focal point that draws your guests’ eyes, as it creates an aesthetically pleasing design. Your interior layout can be centered around your fireplace too, which will create not only a central focal point but also an inviting gathering place for guests.

This appealing visual will encourage guests to enter your business, particularly if it is a cold day outside.

Fireplaces lend great beauty, warmth, and ambiance to your home. Accessories like mesh screens, hearth tools, or ceramic logs make fireplace usage more convenient and enjoyable. More and more homeowners opt for a particular accessory that increases fireplace safety and efficiency. Learn more about glass doors for your fireplace.

What Are Fireplace Glass Doors?

Fireplace doors are a set of double glass doors that cover the opening of a fireplace. Some doors open and close like traditional double doors, while others unfold in a track system to open and then shut flat again.

While some gas fireplaces come standard with glass doors, you can add these doors to any type of existing fireplace. For example, a wood-burning fireplace you convert to gas can still accommodate glass doors. You can also install glass doors onto electric fireplaces as well.

Glass doors have tempered glass that can withstand fireplace temperatures up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. This feature allows glass to retain its physical properties and not melt, distort, or emit fumes in high heat. Tempered glass is safer because it will not break into large, dangerous shards. Instead, tempered glass shatters into many tiny pieces that are easier to handle and much less likely to cut someone.

When you shop for fireplaces, you want to ensure you have a safe and reliable installation as you plan to use the fireplace for years into the future. One thing to look for from fireplace vendors is a membership to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, known as the HPBA for short.

Knowing a business is part of the HPBA comes with a lot more than just an extra title and logo attached to their brochures. Learn about the advantages of the HPBA and how each advantage will increase your confidence as you hire a company for a fireplace installation.

1. Membership Qualifications

Not just any company can join the HPBA. To qualify, the business must have sales within the industry and pay dues based off the amount of those sales. Once a business is submitted, the company will go through a review process to ensure they are legit and qualified to sell and install fireplaces.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed much about normal entertainment and recreation for most Americans. As the summer of 2020 continues and many people look toward a socially distant autumn with many limitations on activities, Americans are increasingly looking at their own backyards as the epicenter of entertainment for the foreseeable future.

If your backyard has become your go-to spot to replace fun activities you used to do elsewhere, a fire feature could transform it into a true destination. But what kind of fire element is right for your particular social life? Read on to see what entertainment replacements fit which type of fire features.

1. To Replace Date Nights
Date nights — both as a couple and with other couples — have been a mainstay of American evenings for decades. But with restaurants often closed, limited in scope, and stuck with social distancing rules, date night out might not be very enjoyable these days. So bring date nights home with a cozy fireplace in your outdoor dining or lounge area. A fireplace brings an automatic level of romance and relaxation.

Backyards have become an extension of indoor living spaces. In the West, homeowners can be somewhat limited by cold months and even cold evenings, though. So many of them find ways to warm up the outdoors to make them cozy.

A fire hearth is a relatively novel installation, and these fire features can add significantly to your outdoor enjoyment. Read on to see if a fire hearth might be an ideal addition to your backyard.

Outdoor Fire Hearth Basics

An outdoor fire hearth incorporates elements of fireplaces and fire pits with a little retaining wall thrown in. Essentially, a fire hearth is a seating wall. If you have a sloped yard, the wall portion can serve as a retaining wall. Otherwise, you can use the back wall as you’d like. In the center of the bench seating is the warming element.

Typically, the heating element is similar to that found with a fire pit. It has a metal liner or fire bricks in the center of the seating with capstone all around. You can stack firewood into the fire liner, but most homeowners choose gas, either natural or propane, as the fuel source. In that case, the contractor installs a pilot attached to a fire ring. Glass rocks or faux logs cover the ring.

Outdoor Fire Hearth Materials

The same materials go into the construction of a fire hearth that go into the construction of a fireplace. The foundation of the fire hearth is usually a concrete core. The contractors will usually use cinder blocks and, perhaps, standard bricks to create the basic shape of the fire hearth. If the wall portion is meant to be a retaining wall, they may need to reinforce it with rebar and gravel.

You can choose any finish you want for the exterior of the fire hearth. Homeowners commonly choose a veneer, either stone or brick. With veneers, the fabricators create thin slices of the material. The contractors install the veneer by spreading mortar into the foundation surface and slotting in the stones or bricks so they look stacked. They may also grout between the stones.

Your other main options are concrete and adobe. With either finish, the contractors will apply the material and let it set accordingly. Both tend to look more minimalistic, with concrete appearing especially modern.

Outdoor Fire Hearth Design

Your imagination is your limit when it comes to the design of an outdoor fire hearth. Essentially, any seating wall or fireplace design can be modified into a fire hearth.

A good plan to design your fire hearth is to consider the style of your house and yard. You should plan to incorporate materials used in your house and hardscaping into your fire hearth. Likewise, repeat shapes from your house or hardscaping in the fire hearth. For example, if you have any arches in your house, you might add an arch the top of the fire hearth or the fire pit.

Outdoor Fire Hearth Uses

As noted, a fire hearth can also serve as a retaining wall. So, behind the wall, you’ll have an elevated area of land that you can use for any purpose. Landscaping would be ideal. Consider adding plants that will smell pleasant while you enjoy the fire element.

If you don’t need a retaining wall, the wall portion of the fire hearth can be for privacy. You can keep neighbors’ eyes away from your outdoor activities. Conversely, you can use it as a shield for a hot tub behind the wall. You could even put a bench on the back of the wall for the hot tub area.

Fire hearths are typically for more intimate gatherings because you can’t have guests sit all around them as you can with a fire pit. You can instead use it as the centerpiece of an outdoor lounge. If you want to expand its benefits, you could also place additional seating or a dining table nearby.

Talk to Alpine Fireplaces about a custom fire hearth for your backyard.

Are you finally ready to finish or upgrade your backyard or patio? Do you want to make it a focal point or a gathering place for friends and family, but not sure where to start? Start with deciding which fire feature might fit your situation by asking yourself these questions:

• How do we typically like to spend our outdoor time?
• Do we have a pool or other outdoor amenities that a fire feature would enhance?
• Do we want to stay under a covered patio, or do we prefer to be out under the sky?
• How much space do we have to dedicate to a fire feature?
• How mobile do we want it to be?
• Will this outdoor space be for small or large gatherings?
• What kind of concerns do we have about children and fire safety?

If you’ve been thinking about making a great backyard hangout, you need to consider built-in grills, a common choice for homeowners who want maximum utility in their outdoor kitchen. If you aren’t sure if an outdoor kitchen is right for you, check out these five benefits.

An outdoor fireplace can be a boon to your patio, providing both warmth and light, not to mention a natural area of congregation. Below are some tips for incorporating a new fireplace so it matches your patio’s style.