Chapel Hill Realtor’s Home Energy Savings Tips – Winter Edition
Christine Khoury, your Chapel Hill Realtor, has some energy saving tips for residents. She recommends updating old fireplaces within the home with energy-efficient wood burning fireplaces. According to Christine, the old fireplaces allow a great deal of heat to escape through the chimney. If you install an EPA-rated fireplace in the home, the savings can be substantial. They use the air from outdoors for combustion and by circulating the room air around the firebox more heat is obtained for warming the home. This type of fireplace is much kinder to the environment because they do not produce as much pollution.
The use of a Rumford fireplace can allow more heat to be returned to the room because they feature a shallow design for this purpose according to Christine Khoury, your Chapel Hill Realtor. In addition, many homeowners are installing fireplace inserts in the home rather than replacing the entire fireplace. The metal boxes used for these inserts are sealed and they fit within the fireplace. Like the EPA fireplaces, they also use outside air for combustion and are made to help circulate this air and inside air to keep the room warm. In addition, they burn a number of fuels such as pellets and wood. There are many with an 80% efficiency rating.
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Another tip that can help to maximize the heat within the home is the installation of glass doors on the fireplace. They are very beneficial when letting the fire burn down for the night. However, when enjoying a fireplace the glass doors or screen should be open to keep them from blocking the radiant heat. They may be installed for a cost of between $300 and $500.
Choosing energy-efficient gas fireplaces will include the option of a direct-vent or a vent-free fireplace. For a fireplace with a rating as high as 77% energy-efficiency, the direct-vent with two-way vents may be chosen. They utilize the outside air for combustion. The vent-free fireplace can be more energy-efficient than the direct-vent, but they do release a substantial amount of moisture into the air.
If you are looking to save money on energy costs, Christine Khoury, your Chapel Hill Realtor recommends that you look into the new designs for fireplaces. The traditional ones used by many people in the winter often convert only 15% of the energy of the wood that is being burned into heat that is useful. Additionally, there are federal tax credits of up to $300 available for certain types of fireplaces through the end of 2011 and your state may even provide tax credits for improvements – including fireplaces – made to increase energy.
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