When it comes to choosing fires to heat the home, designs today are superior in both appearance and in technology than those in the past. No longer is a chimney absolutely necessary for a clean burning gas fireplace, not with balanced flue fires available. Whether the homeowner prefers the traditional look of a closed glass fireplace or a in wall installation that is clean burning and highly efficient, the chances are that a glass fireplace with the efficient exhaust system of a balanced flue fires is the answer.
Traditionally, chimneys take room air and burn it and then exhaust the smoke up the flue. The system has not changed much from the time fireplaces were first invented. Taking warm room air and burning it then exhausting it up the flue is perhaps not the most efficient answer but it has worked.
However balanced flue fires take the concept a little further than exhausting already warmed air up the chimney. Balanced flue fires use a special system and can be installed either with or without an existing chimney. The air used in balanced flue fires is drawn from the outdoors through specially designated tubes and exhausted outdoors through yet another tube.
A standard chimney is required for the traditional open fireplace or in the absence of a chimney; a special exhaust system must be installed. However, balanced flue fires can work with or without an existing chimney and can be installed in rooms where installing a standard flue or chimney is impractical or undesirable. These special flues can sustain either a vertical run upward or even horizontal runs so that many rooms considered too difficult or far from the wall may be fitted with balanced flue fires.
Balanced flue fires may operate with many fuel sources including gas and wood and are a completely enclosed system. These fires can even be hidden inside the walls with nothing visible from the outside. Because balanced flue fires are completely enclosed they can be placed as an accent to the room or hidden.
Most chimneys use at least some room air to feed the fire, it is essential to their functioning and also creates inefficient conditions. However, balanced flues operate in a strictly controlled enclosed system where air in and out are regulated. The enclosure and separation of the air intake and exhaust make balanced flue fires more efficient and less likely to cause a room to be stuffy.
Balanced flue fires are unique in that the air intake and exhaust are all external and conditions are very controlled. The enclosure and tightly controlled air flow make balanced flue fires more efficient. Moreover, drawing air from the room can create chilly draughts and this is avoided with balanced flue fires.
Balanced flue fires can fit into even the most challenging of spaces and provide clean efficient heat without many of the drawbacks associated with traditional flues. Even homes not on the gas mains can enjoy this new cleaner and more efficient technology. The solution for fires that function without losing most of the heat up the flue is for many homes, balanced flue fires.
