Industry Insider: Fireplaces Plus

The recent nesting trend among homeowners has benefited many fireplace shops, said Neal Kaplan, owner of Fireplaces Plus stores in Vernon Hills and Chicago.

“Instead of moving to a new or larger home, they have chosen to make smaller upgrades to their existing home like adding fireplaces or improving the ones they have,” Kaplan said.

Many choose to improve their existing fireplaces to increased energy efficiency. “They have invested in direct vent fireplaces that exhaust the bad air up the chimney and not into the home, and that feed the fire with air from outside instead of room air,” Kaplan said.

These high efficiency, sealed gas log units cost between $2,000 and $4,000 and can either be inserted into an existing fireplace or built right into a new or rebuilt fireplace.

“These units require both gas and electricity sources at the fireplace in order to operate and when we are converting an existing fireplace to a direct vent, we need to run two pipes up the existing chimney and add a different termination top,” Kaplan said.

Fireplaces Plus carries products from three different direct vent fireplace manufacturers: Napoleon, Empire Comfort Systems and Lennox.

“We carry the traditional one-sided units, see-through units and even three-sided units,” Kaplan said. “And we are noticing that more and more people are choosing the more contemporary style, clean-faced units that maximize the viewing area and have no mantels and other trim around the opening of the fireplace.”

Those who still wish to burn wood may also purchase high-efficiency, directly vented, closed systems. They cost between $4,000 and $8,000 and are manufactured by Osburne, Napoleon and Lennox, Kaplan said.

“In general, however, people are trending away from burning wood because they don’t want to be bothered with the mess and if they don’t have glass doors, they cannot go to bed until the fire burns out. They must also leave the damper open all night,” he said, “and pay to have the chimney swept every two or three years.”

Instead, they are investing in gas logs for their conventional fireplaces. These come in three types: ceramic fiber logs, ceramic concrete logs and concrete logs.

Concrete logs put little to no heat from the fire back into the room. Ceramic concrete logs send 30 to 50 percent of fireplace heat into the room, while ceramic fiber logs are most efficient, putting 70 to 80 percent of the fire’s radiant heat into the surrounding room, Kaplan said. The logs are priced according to how much heat they transfer with the concrete logs costing the least and the ceramic fiber logs costing the most.

“Homeowners need not worry about their rooms heating too much when they also invest in safety pilot logs, which can be turned up and down, on and off, with the push of a button or by remote control,” he said.

“The other advantage with gas logs is that once the logs have been turned off, the damper can be closed.”

Finishes for fireplace screens, doors and equipment are also an important consideration for homeowners. The trendy finishes today include hand-rubbed and oil-rubbed bronze, satin nickel and the various iron finishes. However, brass is also starting to make a slow comeback, Kaplan said.

“We actually offer 52 different finishes in screens, doors, wood holders and iron tool sets. We stock standard looks and sizes and can also have custom ones made,” he said.

Fireplaces Plus, which has been in business since 1992, has locations at 700 N. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills, and 200 W. Ohio, Chicago. The business offers free in-home consultations and can be reached at either (847) 549-6700 or (312) 587-7587.

For more details, you can also visit www.fireplacecollection.com.