There's a fireplace for every size and space

This is the time of year to think fireplaces. When it's cold outside, we naturally want our indoor sanctuary to feel comfy and cozy. We gravitate toward flannel sheets, fluffy comforters and thick socks, and we begin to turn on the heat.

The idea of the welcoming hearth gets packaged in emotionally charged images of the fireside and decorated mantels, but in many places adequate heating means survival. It is not merely a romantic concept.

That's why this design issue has two faces.

Americans rely on various methods to keep warm. We use heating oil, electricity and biofuels along with geothermal, natural gas and wood. Even the smallest house can take a hefty chunk of the monthly budget to heat properly and paying the heating bill is not a winter sport.

Urban dwellers more often rely on fuels: natural gas and electricity. Country dwellers can get in wood or wood pellets, yet a plentiful supply is not easy for the old or sick to secure and they could be reliant upon the kindness of their community for assistance. Keeping a home adequately warm is critical for the very young and the very old in harsh winter conditions.

Yet, from the design point of view, we get wrapped up in the mantel, the firebox surround and details of the design. I've seen folks agonize over which natural stone to use or what mantel moldings to incorporate. It's the frosting on the cake!

Often fireplace designs seem too clumsy or large for a tiny room. It seems that most people just cannot help themselves and invariably believe that bigger is better when it comes to the hearth.

Success depends entirely on good proportion and a charming fireplace doesn't have to be the largest element in the room. Fortunately, you can study successful historical designs.

Turns out, in typical Colonial homes, each bedroom had its own brick fireplace of very modest size. Rustic homestead cabins included a black, potbelly stove in each room that created fierce warmth. I've stayed in cabins that get sweltering hot with those little stoves. Southwestern rooms rely on petite kiva-style hearths that are perfectly proportioned to a smaller room.

Changes began with homes built in the 1930s and '40s that began to feature floor furnaces instead of room fireboxes and forced air heating became popular in the late 1950s. Still, we look to the fireplace as a major symbol that anchors a living room, den or library and consider lucky the homeowner whose bedroom includes a firebox and mantel.

Gas, wood and electric fireplace units can be retrofitted into an older firebox or installed in a spot where none has been before. Many models require no venting, which makes them more economical to incorporate. These will be called zero-clearance units that can be installed nearly anywhere.

Become familiar with your local building codes regarding any type of fireplace unit and consult an architect or an engineer before constructing a masonry fireplace. I have seen plenty of people have to demolish and rebuild fireplaces that do not work, and it is a costly endeavor.

Scandinavians are experts in designing pellet and wood-burning stoves that are state-of-the-art in terms environmental responsibility. Consider the incredible success achieved by Danish research and technology in Rais stoves.

Rais was one of the first manufacturers to receive the Nordic Ecolabel, important in a nation that burns wood for most of the year. Current designs meet even stricter requirements for efficiency and low particulate emissions. Of course, imports will also carry a higher price tag.

Look at American companies like Heat & Glo, Dimplex, Duraflame and Napoleon Fireplaces.

Each of these companies offer small-space solutions like Heat & Glo's Paloma gas model, pictured here, that works in most contemporary designs. This stove stands just taller than 40 inches and is only about 19 inches wide and 16 inches deep. Napoleon offers a corner-hung, vent-free, ethanol-burning fireplace unit that is 26 by 28 by 11¾ inches. This model is mobile-home certified.

• Christine Brun is a San Diego-based interior designer and the author of "Small Space Living." Send questions and comments to her by email at christinebrun@sbcglobal.net.

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