Today's fireplaces offer a wide range of options

“Life always works around heat and food,” says Susan Prestia of Interior Directions in Kansas City, Kansas. “Shelters had fire pits. Single-room houses had a fireplace, then a larger fireplace with a room on each side of the fireplace. Breakfast was eaten in the bedroom because it's where the warmth was from the fireplace that was on the night before.”

Today, maximizing energy is on the rise — and so are fireplaces. The number of newly constructed, single-family homes with at least one fireplace has grown from 39 percent in 1973 to 46 percent in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The popularity of zone heating, trendy new styles, technological innovations and the amorous allure of the fireplace itself are all adding up to history repeating itself in the homestead.

“Having a fireplace in multiple rooms is back in trend,” Prestia says. “It only took 100 to 270 years to realize its potential.”

“People are spending more time in other areas of the house and rooms are serving dual purposes,” echoes Louise Farrar-Wegener, principal with Z3 Design Studio in Portland, Oregon. “A master bedroom is often now a master retreat. Outdoor living spaces are used year round.”

As a result, Farrar-Wegener says, dual-faced fireplaces are a trend.

“As we design more amenities in less square footage, we look for ways to dual purpose,” Farrar-Wegener says. “For example: a fireplace in a living room/great room/family room could share a face with an outdoor living space. A family room and living room may share one. Or master bath and master bedroom.”

“One of my favorites is mounting a fireplace in an exterior wall so the fire can be viewed from both the interior space or the exterior living space,” Prestia says. “There are condos in Kansas City offering this amenity.”

“Another trend for interior fireplaces would be the see-through design, like the new Mezzo from Heat & Glo,” says Kristianne Watts with KW Designs in Solana Beach, California.

The Mezzo is a modern linear fireplace that reflects contemporary design elements, such as flush-to-the-wall finish, low-profile trim, and crushed glass media. It also allows homeowners to customize, choosing their front door design and interior media options.

“They can choose to have the flames rise from translucent crushed glass for a modern flare, or add textured logs to the crushed glass for a fusion of traditional elements,” says Kristen Mathis, senior communications manager with Hearth & Home Technologies, the parent company for Heat & Glo. “Adjustable-height flames spread across the entire length of the fireplace, reflecting on black glass interior walls for a mesmerizing fire experience.”

“Another trend is ethanol-fueled fireplaces,” Farrar-Wegener says. “They are eco-friendly and ventless. It gives more options of placement and location, for use in apartments, lofts and for those living in metro areas with wood burning restrictions or lack of other fuel sources.”

Ecosmart uses a variety of bioethanol burners to spark their fireplaces, meaning no flue or chimney is needed. And with no restrictive cables or gas connections, they can be installed just about anywhere.

Then there's the Heat & Glo Revo. This versatile fireplace, at only 7-inches deep, can go nearly anywhere and can literally be hung on the wall.

“We find this fireplace to be the perfect appliance for bathrooms, dens or areas where an eye-level Revo installation can serve as 'fire art' while also providing room-warming heat,” Mathis says.

The room itself — as well as the style of the décor — may help dictate which type of fireplace is best.

“For traditional styles and more formal living rooms there's always a mantel and a hearth,” Farrar-Wegener says. “Westgate has a very nice selection with more formal and traditional face frames, doors and liners. For very contemporary or modern styles, (look at) Town & Country Fireplaces, with its widescreen formats and clear glass designs, or Focus Fireplaces, especially for its artsy or 'out of the box' designs.”

From a technology and comfort perspective, it's all about control and convenience, and the fireplace industry has made a number of innovative breakthroughs that address just that, Mathis says.

“For example, the Heat & Glo Primo linear fireplace makes it possible to comfortably enjoy the ambience of a fire year-round thanks to its brand-new, exclusive heat-management system, which provides precision heat control at the flip of a switch,” Mathis says. “Heat can be distributed two ways: via interior heat zones to the room the fireplace is in or an adjacent room, or via exterior heat zones to direct heat outside the home, allowing homeowners to enjoy the beauty of their fireplace in comfort, no matter the season.” 

The wood stove is also now a convenient heating option. According to Mathis, Quadra-Fire has recently introduced the only wood stove equipped with Smart Burn technology.

“This exclusive technology makes wood heating more controllable, more cost efficient, more environmentally friendly and as simple to operate as a typical wall thermostat control,” Mathis explains. “The stoves feature a programmable wall thermostat, along with a single-button control system for ultimate convenience.”

Fireplaces also are becoming more popular outside the home, experts say.

“The outdoor living space or outdoor dining space (is) the gathering/community room for Californians and other similar climates,” Watts says. “Some of our clients consider it their main living room. We are seeing more outdoor dining spaces — cabana-like style rooms with all kinds of features including more modern, built-in fireplaces.”

And what will the future bring to home fireplaces? What you see in commercial applications, Prestia says, is coming home.

“One thing that's hot in restaurants and we'll see in residential is mixing fire and water,” Prestia says. “Reflecting pools with fire shooting out of them.”