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Now, let us have a further look at how can you update your fireplace with the glass door.
Why glass fireplace doors?
Add-ons for fireplaces are, most of the time, put up to beautify the space and enhance their elegance. Glassdoor is a perfect example that boosts the charm of the fireplace and makes the heating more effective.
A fireplace glass door is an asset that offers you many benefits. Some of them are:
Aesthetics
Glass doors make the fireplace and even the home look more elegant. When you’re not using the fireplace, you can close the doors and hide the ashes and dust of the firebox.
Also, glass doors come in various colors and designs. You can choose one that best compliments your fireplace’s hearth. You can even choose the glass screen that blends with your home décor to give your interior a more polished look.
Helps Balance Temperature
In winters, open-hearth fireplaces and chimneys cause a lot of warmth of your homes that you may want to leave your indoors. In summers, a lot of the cooler air from air conditioners leaves through your chimneys.
Fireplace glass doors help balance the temperature inside your house. It prevents your place from getting too warm in winter and also prevents the leakage of cool air through the chimney in summer.
More effective heating
Glass screens magnify heating effectiveness by absorbing heat and reflecting it better. Your room having a glass screen fireplace will be warmer as compared to one with an open-hearth. Moreover, closed fireboxes help the firewood burn better as compared to the open fireboxes. This causes the generation of more warmth.
Increased safety
No matter where used, glass doors always act as security barriers. Fireplace glass doors prevent sparks and ashes from flying through your fireplace. This ensures a lower likelihood of causing any flammable items in your homes to catch fire.
Furthermore, they also save your possessions like furniture and carpets from damage. You also get to ensure that children or pets don’t accidentally get into the fireplace.
The glass doors are a little hot though. So, all you need to do is add an extra screen in front of the fireplace to prevent children from touching the doors.
Types of glass commonly used in glass fireplace
After you finally decide to install glass doors in your fireplace, you need to select the type of glass to use. It is very important to know the right type of glass installed at your fireplaces.
The heat inside the fireplaces can go to around 1100 to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit. To cater to such high intensity without breaking or cracking, you need a particular type of glass.
Some of the common types of glass used in fireplaces are:
Ceramic Glass
Ceramic glass is the best choice for fireplaces. It is not actually glass but a transparent polycrystalline substance. Ceramic glass is the most optimal choice for fireplaces where temperatures of the glass can go above 500 degrees of Fahrenheit because its melting point goes beyond 1000 degrees of Fahrenheit. Ceramic has fewer chances of shattering because of unexpected temperature variations.
Tempered Glass
Tempered glass undergoes several thermal and chemical treatments. During the toughening process, the outer surface of the glass compresses while the tension increases on the interior surface, making the glass though and robust. It is, thus, more vigorous than ordinary glass. Moreover, if tempered glass door breaks, it spreads into small chunks, thus preventing injuries. This glass also has a huge melting point.
However, you need to know that the tempered glass door can’t handle as much heat from the fireplace as ceramics. But you can still burn the fireplace with doors open, ensuring that glass is not much exposed to heat.
Doors
It is critical to comprehend the different sorts of fireplace doors you have before discussing whether you should keep them open or closed. The finest methods to use your fireplace are determined by the types of glass used in the design of the fireplace doors. Your fireplace glass doors are made mostly of two types of glass: tempered and ceramic. Before selecting if your fireplace doors may be opened or closed while burning, you’ll need to know the kind of glass that was used in their construction.
Some common misconceptions about using Glass Fireplace
Glass fireplaces are one of the various equipment that most of you search for when buying a new home. A fireplace is almost a symbol, representing family, home, happiness, and coziness. Glass fireplaces and chimneys also make you think of a conventional style interior. One through which Santa Claus comes to give you gifts.
But there are certain misconceptions you all have about glass fireplaces and their maintenance.
“Because I’m not using my fireplace often, it doesn’t need any inspection or cleaning.”
There are many reasons for your glass fireplace requiring a proper inspection. Some of them are:
- Moisture entering your chimney requiring costly repairs.
- Animals making their homes in your chimney causing harmful blockages
- Formation of cracks damaging the chimney’s structure
- Dust on the glass screen will make it look dull and lifeless.
So, it is vital that you have your chimneys cleaned or inspected by chimney cleaning dallas experts once in a while. This will help ensure your safety.
Also, regular inspections will help you detect and solve issues in the initial stages. This way you can also reduce chances of more issues surfacing later on. Prevention is always better than cure, after all.
“Because of the metal liner inside my chimney, I don’t need annual maintenance.”
Chimney liners increase the effectiveness of your chimneys and extend their lives. But, they do not make your chimneys indestructible. The chimneys still remain vulnerable to frequent inspections and maintenance calls.
Even with the presence of chimney liners, creosote will still gather in your chimneys. Along with this, other blockages may also occur that can lead to chimney fires. To prevent this and void liner warranties, you must carry out yearly inspections.
“I can clean my glass fireplace and chimney by myself just fine.”
I don’t have to spend money on hiring expert chimney cleaners when there are always DIY hacks.
Some of you may clean your fireplace and chimney. But the creosote settling in the chimney might be a big hurdle for the rest. Cleaning creosote needs proper equipment, expertise, and professionals who have experience with what they’re doing.
Cleaning it by yourself may cause you injuring yourself. You may even end up cleaning in a poor way that might cause even more problems later on.
How to Replace Glass Fireplace Doors
Step 1 – Attach lintel clamps to the door
The door should be set up on its bottom edge with a person holding it for you while you work, or you can lean it against your leg.
The four screws on the rear of the door where the floor brackets (bottom) and lintel clamps (top) will go should be taken out using a Phillips-head screwdriver. You will need these later to install the brackets and clamps, so set them away.
The two lintel clamps should be put together and attached to the door at the top.
Step 2 – Adjust the clamps
Keep in mind that the screws fit into a groove cut into the clamps as you tighten the screws holding the lintel clamps to the top, and back frame of the doors. To properly match the clamps with the bottom of the lintel that runs across the top of the firebox opening, you may move the clamps up or down using this slot.
The two L-shaped floor brackets at the bottom of the door should then be screwed in place.
Step 3 – Mark for screw holes
Make cautious not to damage the finish as you snugly fit the door into the firebox aperture. The item should fit inside the aperture snugly.
To illuminate your work, hang a droplight within the firebox.
Mark the location where the bottom brackets touch the firebox floor while holding the device in place. Mark through the brackets’ groves with a heavy marker, such as a Sharpie.
Step 4 – Drill holes for lead anchors
Remove the door from the firebox with care, then set it aside. At the locations of the two bracket marks, drill a 2-inch-deep hole with a drill/driver equipped with a masonry bit of 5/16-inch diameter.
Step 5 – Insert lead anchors for screws
To remove the drilling-related dust, use a wet/dry vacuum. Make careful to vacuum the holes as well to remove the dust. Gently tap a lead anchor into each hole with a hammer until it is level with the surface of the next brick.
Step 6 – Insulate the door
Don some gloves before unfolding the fiberglass insulation that was included with the door. Cut out sections that will fit into the channels on the unit’s two sides and top.
Put insulation into each of the three channels. As with wall insulation, you should not worry about maintaining the fiberglass’s fluff because its major purpose is to seal the door, prevent smoke from escaping, and shield any finishes on the door frame from the heat.
Step 7 – Screw door to firebox floor
Slide the door into the firebox opening with caution. Verify that there is no insulation protruding from the frame’s edge.
Ensure that the door is flush with the firebox’s face. Turn sheet metal screws through the bottom brackets and lead anchors by reaching inside.
To fasten the unit to the brick, tighten the screws using a socket wrench. Avoid overtightening the screws to avoid breaking off the screw head or loosing the anchor in the brick.
Step 8 – Clamp door to lintel
The door’s attachments to the metal lintel bar at the top of the firebox are secured by movable clamps. Make sure the clamp is set up so that it can span the lintel’s depth.
To secure the hardware to the lintel, tighten the thumbscrew using your fingers. Use a pair of pliers to give the thumbscrew one more quarter-turn when you can no longer spin it.
Benefits of Knowing When to Close or Open Fireplace Doors
Understanding whether to keep your fireplace glass doors open or closed has several advantages and is more than just a cosmetic touch.
- saving money on house heating and cooling
- having fun with longer-lasting flames
- safer flames being burned
When it comes to using your fireplace doors, each of them is crucial. Let us examine each of them in more detail and how they are impacted by the open or closed fireplace glass doors.
Saving Money Heating and Cooling Your Home
The cost of heating and cooling your house directly depends on whether you choose to keep the fireplace doors open or closed. For instance, if your fireplace flue is open in the winter and there is not a fire going, important heat is leaving from your chimney.
The same is true for summertime home cooling. When there is no fire in the fireplace and when there is a fire, keeping the fireplace doors closed and the chimney flue open is essential. Since hot air rises, when the heat from the fire rises and leaves the chimney, it frequently pulls all of the warm air in the space with it.
Having fun with longer-lasting fires
You can keep flames going longer if you know when to keep the fireplace doors open or closed. When lighting a fire in a fireplace, keep the doors open to feed the flames. This is so that flames can burn, which requires oxygen.
A constant supply of oxygen not only creates lovely dancing flames but also promotes a longer, more powerful burn.
However, you should keep an eye on your open fireplace doors since leaving them open too far will put out your fire. If you give your fire too much oxygen, it may choke the flames and become dull burning.
A filthy chimney or firebox are additional components of your fireplace that may affect the health of your wood burning. To keep your fireplace safe and your flames burning hot, keep your firebox clean at all times and sweep your chimney frequently.
Having Fires That Burn Safer
Fireplace doors and screens aid in protecting your home’s interior from any risks that a fire in a fireplace may provide. Many people believe that shutting the glass fireplace doors will stop sparks or embers from escaping the fireplace and landing inside their houses. This is when having a fireplace fire screen in place is useful. You may keep your fireplace doors open and contribute to the security of your house by using high-quality mesh curtains and screens for fireplaces.
The last thing you want to do is for your fireplace’s tempered glass doors to break and become damaged by closing them while a fire is raging.
How to Make the Most of a Fireplace with Glass Doors
The overall safety of your house and loved ones should be one of your top priorities while burning flames in a fireplace with glass doors. Always keep an eye on the fire in a fireplace, especially when the flames are dancing vigorously.
It is a good idea to keep the fireplace glass doors open while burning if you are not sure what kind of glass your fireplace’s doors are composed of. You definitely do not want to have to replace pricey glass for your fireplace doors just because you were not sure if they could be closed.
However, it is not always relevant what kind of glass doors you have on your fireplace. When deciding whether to keep your fireplace doors open or closed, a number of other variables come into play.
Outlook
A fireplace glass door is an essential accessory for your fireplace. It not only adds the exquisite elegance of your home but offers various other benefits. They are more secured and even hide the dirty, unattractive firebox.
You still though, must ensure to get your fireplace and chimney inspected and cleaned. Proper maintenance, after all, is very essential to prevent hazardous accidents.