Winter Fireplace Money Saving Hints and Tips

Winter brings colder and crisper temperatures, and with them comes higher energy bills to heat your home. If you're fortunate enough to have a fireplace, this article will help you keep warm with a safe, roaring fire in your fireplace and save money on your heating bills this winter season.

Fireplace Money Saving Tip #1: Close Off Other Rooms

MythBusters, in their viewer's choice Christmas special, proved the theory that lighting a fire in the fireplace actually reduces the temperature in the other rooms of your home. Yes, it's true. Lighting a fire can make the rest of your house colder! One way to save money on your heating bills this winter season is to close off the doors to other rooms of the house as much as possible when burning a fire in the room where you will spend the most time.

Fireplace Money Saving Tip #2: Install Glass Doors on the Fireplace

If your fireplace has a metal curtain or metal doors, consider investing in glass doors. Glass doors on a fireplace can help reduce your heating bills while still letting heat through the glass into the room. The way they save money on heating bills is by preventing the chimney from sucking air through the room from colder parts of the house.

Fireplace Money Saving Tip #3: Turn Off Gas Starters

Some fireplaces have a gas line running to them to help start the fire. It's not uncommon to forget to turn off the gas line after the wood has started to burn, and this can lead to a surprisingly expensive heating bill!

Fireplace Money Saving Tip #4: Buy Firewood in Bulk and Store Well

Whenever possible, buy your firewood for your fireplace in bulk, by the cord or more and store it in a place safe from elements that could make it wet. It's not a good idea to store large quantities of firewood indoors, due to bugs and termites and other potential problems. If an appropriate covered area is not available, invest in a waterproof tarp to cover the stored wood. This will keep the wood dry and ready to use to help save you money on your heating bills.

Fireplace Money Saving Tip #5: Use Kerosene Instead of Starter Logs or Paper

Paper can be dangerous when starting a fire in the fireplace. Starter logs are wonderful to start fires in fireplaces, but they tend to be expensive. Look instead to your local hardware store and buy heater-grade kerosene. A one-gallon metal can of heater-grade kerosene should be enough for the entire winter season. Simply chip off a few pieces of wood or bark and soak them for a few minutes in the kerosene. Be careful not to spill the kerosene on furniture, carpet and finished surfaces and always wash your hands afterward.

Place the soaked chips under your dry firewood in the fireplace, and light them. They should light easily but burn slowly enough to catch your wood without costing you a small fortune in starter logs. Be sure to store the kerosene in a cool, dry location away from any open flames and in its original container.

Fireplace Money Saving Tip #6: "Keep the Home Fires Burning"

When the initial roaring fire dies down, the embers and lower flames will put off more heat to the room than the roaring fire will. The darker the flame, the hotter the heat. A bright yellow flame is one of the coolest flames, with the orange and reddish flames being hotter. Blue and greenish flames are usually chemically-induced flames, and they will burn hotter than the regular flames. (You'll note some starter logs will have blue or greenish flames when the paper burns or near the log.)

When the bright yellow flames die down to the smaller orange flames, you will have more heat in the room. Your goal to save money on your heating bills is to keep the flames at the yellow/orange level, instead of the roaring bright yellow flames after you first start the fire. When the flames begin to die down to just the embers, add one or two logs to the fire, ensure they are touching the embers still burning on the other logs, and then fan the logs to give a little air and bring the fire back up to catch the new logs.

Fireplace Money Saving Tip #7: Keep Your Fireplace and Chimney Clean

The better the oxygen supply is to the flames, the better the wood will burn and the more money you will save on heating bills. Keep the ashes, airways, vents and chimney clean.

Fireplace Money Saving Tip #8: I Don't Know

I really don't have a tip to include here, because I couldn't come up with 10 money saving fireplace tips, but I wanted it to be an even number, so we'll call this a fill-in-the-blank fireplace money saving tip. Either that, I'm just checking to see if you're paying attention!

Fireplace Money Saving Tip #9: Use Fans and Ceiling Fans

If you have a ceiling fan, check your user's manual to see if there's a backward setting for winter to help with circulating heat that rises to the ceiling. If there isn't a switch on the ceiling fan to spin it the other direction, set your ceiling fan in the room where the fireplace is to the lowest setting so it doesn't blow air on you but circulates the heat in the room. If you don't have a ceiling fan, a small box or personal fan placed near the fireplace can help circulate the heat into the room better.

And finally...

Fireplace Money Saving Tip #10: Use Your Fireplace to Cook!

"What?" you asked me, incredulously. I'm serious! Do a little internet research and you can learn to cook with your fireplace! For the kids, hot dogs on roasting sticks over the open flames (with adult supervision, of course), or what about homemade S'mores with graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars. For the adults, there is campfire chili and foil pocket meals that can be made in the fireplace. If you want a little romance, roasted marshmallows and champagne on a chili night in front of the fire... oh, yeah.

Okay, so it might not actually be a tip to save money on your heating bills, but wouldn't it be fun while you're staying warm? Have a happy and warm winter searson this year, curled up in front of your money saving fireplace!