When it comes to a wood burning fireplace there is nothing better on a cold winter day than to relax by the fire and hear the crackling of the wood as it burns. But unfortunately most fireplaces today are very inefficient and most of the heat goes right up the chimney. But this doesn’t have to be the case. Think about it several hundred years ago people heated there un-insulated homes with one single fireplace. Today we have trouble heating one insulated room, what happened? Well in the 1900’s, during the oil revolution, people were no longer using fireplaces for heat because oil and coal were so inexpensive. During this time a few new fireplace designs were tried. They required large flues which caused most of the heat to go up the chimney but who cared, heat was cheap! These new designs became the standard way of building fireplaces and as masons taught there sons how to build fireplaces these were the only designs used.  Than came the metal firebox which was a cheap and easy way to build a fireplace.  But they have the same poor design and along with wasting most the heat up the chimney they also rust and become unsafe, sometimes as soon as in 15 to 20 years.  To add to the problem square or rectangle flues were mostly used, but since draft goes up the chimney in a spiral these shapes cause turbulence as the flue gases rise.  When using square or rectangle flues it is required to use larger flues, allowing more heat to be wasted.  So what’s the soulution?

The solution is to go back to our ancestors and learn something from them.  A man named Count Rumford designed a fireplace back in the 1700’s which heated the room using radiant heat, and did not need as large of a flue because of the smooth firebox design, and by not putting a damper right above the opening which causes smoke turbulence.  So now by taking his design and adding a round, insulated stainless steel flue to it we can build fireplaces that work efficiently and throw nice and warm radiant heat into the room.

Whether it be tearing out and rebuilding the guts of an existing fireplace, or designing and building a brand new fireplace we can offer solutions that will make you look forward to that cold winter day when your stuck inside the house.

Bellfire Fireplaces

The bellfire is made up of pre-cast modular masonry units.  They use the same basic Rumford design but modify it.  It is insulated and constructed to store heat inside its walls and reflect it back into the room.  It has an apex located in the back wall that creates a hot spot that radiates heat back into the fire and out into the room.  This apex turns this fireplace into a real home heater.  The wood is burned into a light ash, creosote is practically eliminated and you do not get that smoky odor in your house.

Rumford Style Fireplaces

This hand built fireplace is engineered to throw heat back into your room at a efficiency far greater then that of a standard American fireplace. The side walls are placed at angles, and the rear firewall of the firebox is built perfectly upright. It is constructed of thick firebrick, this holds the heat, and radiate out toward the room for hours even after the fire is extinguished.

Outdoor Fireplaces

Outdoor fireplaces can add ambiance to any special area in your yard or outside of your house.  These can be constructed of brick, block, or stone, and be used as an out door heat source or grill on.

Fireplace Relining

After years of wear and tear on a fireplace, or after a chimney fire, flue’s can become cracked and damaged.  This is extremely dangerous because any small cracks can expand during a chimney fire, and the flames then can touch combustible materials like the wood framing of a house.  Relining your fireplace with stainless steel, sometimes, is the only answer to this problem.  Our staff is trained to deal with the removal of the old flues and the installation of these insulated stainless steel lining systems.  This is the safest way to replace your fireplace flue, and make your chimney meet code standards.