Ways to Improve Your Home's Energy Efficiency

Winter is on its way and energy costs have never been higher. While you can certainly don a few extra layers and a pair of mittens, no one wants to walk around their own home bundled up in a snowsuit to stay warm. Heating and cooling your home accounts for nearly 56 percent of the energy you use in your home, so finding ways to make your home more energy efficient can go a long way toward saving you money while maintaining a comfortable temperature.
If the cold winter weather and high energy costs have you concerned, Electric Fireplaces Direct may have exactly what you have been looking for. Instead of suffering through cold winter nights that leave you feeling chilled to the bone, or running your energy bill quite literally through the roof, you can enjoy the efficient and attractive heat provided by electric fireplaces, including Amish fireplaces or a Dimplex electric fireplace.

Keep the Heat Where it Belongs

You can take many steps this winter to keep your home more energy efficient while maintaining a comfortable temperature. The sun's heat, what little there may be in winter, can be collected and stored within the structure and furnishings of your home by simply leaving the curtains and drapes in any south facing windows open during the day and closing all window treatments at night. As the sunlight enters your windows, the walls, floor and furnishings within your home will absorb its heat. As the night temperature drops outside, this heat is released into the rooms of your home, reducing the need for supplemental heat.
You can also save a significant amount of money on your heating bill by keeping the thermostat at the lowest possible temperature. If you have a programmable thermostat, you can set it to maintain a cooler temperature while no one is at home or while everyone is asleep. This action alone has been shown to decrease your heating bill by 10 percent.
There is no sense heating your home if the warm air leaks out through your doors and windows. Caulking and weather-stripping are inexpensive and simple ways to increase your home's energy efficiency without requiring the services of a contractor. You should also check the insulation in your attic, basement and crawl spaces. Efficient airflow within your heating system is also crucial to saving money on your heating bill, which is why replacing your furnace or heat systems filters regularly can make a big difference.
Once you have ensured that your home is well insulated, has no leaks and that your current heating system is operating efficiently, you can add electric fireplaces to your home for an inexpensive and attractive source of supplemental heat. Portable electric fireplaces generate supplemental heat for up to 400 square feet for only pennies a day.

Room by Room Heating Efficiency

There is no sense heating rooms that you are not using. You can keep your thermostat at a much lower setting by using electric fireplaces, including Roll Away fireplaces or a Dimplex electric fireplace. These freestanding electric fireplaces provide immediate and quiet heat for surprisingly little. While electricity rates vary by location, the efficiency of various heat sources can range to the extreme. Gas fireplaces generally operate at a cost of 17 to 24¢ per hour, but electric fireplaces provide realistic looking, patented flame technology for about 3¢ per hour and flame with heat for around 8 to 12¢ an hour.
A Dimplex electric fireplace or Amish fireplaces plug into any standard electrical outlet and fit easily into any size apartment, condo, loft or home. You also get the advantage of being able to move your Amish fireplaces from room to room, depending solely upon where you are and what you are doing. While many models of a Dimplex electric fireplace are portable, some are fireplace mantel packages designed to occupy a permanent space. Instead of heating your entire home, you can pick and choose exactly which rooms you want to maintain at a higher temperature simply by using Amish fireplaces or a Dimplex electric fireplace.

Comfort with Style and Savings

These attractive electric fireplace heaters come in a variety types and styles that are sure to match whatever décor you currently have in your home. You can opt for a traditional, firebox and furniture quality mantel combination or, if you prefer, you can order units specifically designed to fit in the corner of any room in your home. The fireboxes and mantels have all the elegance of traditional masonry fireplaces without any of the mess, fire hazards, or smoke problems. Obviously, you won't have to find a place to store all that bug-infested wood either!
Electric Fireplaces Direct has a wide variety of models and styles of electric fireplace heaters to choose from. The high quality craftsmanship that goes into creating energy and money saving Amish fireplaces or each Dimplex electric fireplace is sure to please even the most discerning shopper. Electric fireplace heaters will pay for themselves over time with the reduced energy bills you will face for many years to come.

Electric Fireplaces: Comfort, Romance and Energy Efficiency in the Bedroom

Autumn is in the air and the harvest is in full swing. This time of year it is hard not to crave the comfort of home cooked meals and fireside romance. Traditionally, fireplaces were used for keeping your home warm. Nowadays’ a fireplace is a focal point for your space, a place where you can showcase your favourite accessories and family photo’s. Fireplaces create ambiance and are perfect for setting the mood – especially in a bedroom.
Traditionally most homes built in the last 60 years that feature a fireplace have them in the formal living room or family room. Very rarely will you find more than one fireplace in a home and you are even less likely to find one in the master bedroom or en-suite bathroom. But that trend is quickly changing. According to the 2011 State of the Hearth Industry Report released by the Hearth Patio and Barbeque Association of America, the master bedroom is the most desired room to add a second fireplace. Furthermore, adding an electric fireplace to a room that is used more often such as the master bedroom, provides you with the option to turn the home’s central thermostat down while keeping that space warm and cozy. This concept is called “zone heating” and is one great way to save energy and money by lowering your overall heating costs.
An electric fireplace in the bedroom is the most economical and effortless way to zone heat. No lengthy or expensive remodeling is required, simply pick the model that best suits your taste and decor and at the push of a button you can enjoy the ambiance and romance.
Consider this when you are shopping for your electric fireplace:

Electric fireplaces do not require chimneys, piping or gas lines. Adding one to any space is simple and easy.
Simply plug it in. There is no need for professional installation if you choose a plug in model.
Electric fireplaces are portable, and can be moved from room to room. Take accurate measurements so you can choose a model that will fit in your space.
An electric fireplace can produce 700 and 1,500 watts of heat which is sufficient for producing supplemental heat in any space.

The Greenest Fireplace

As we become more aware of our impact on the environment, it is time to question our choice of fireplaces for our home. Governments in both the U.S. and Canada are passing laws that limit or prohibit the burning of coal, wood, and natural gas as fuels for fireplaces. With that in mind, let’s examine the ‘green’ merits of an electric fireplace.
Efficient use of resources : For at least a generation, we’ve been told that it is more cost-effective to heat our homes with gas than with electricity. This has translated into an expectation that a gas fireplace is also an efficient way to enjoy a fire. While gas does burn ‘clean’, it takes an abundance of it (30,000 to 40,000 BTU’s for a typical fireplace; more for oversize models) to create a nice-looking, realistic flame. Due to the amount of gas being burned, there is also heat being produced, often more than is required for main floor rooms in a typical home. And because a gas fireplace must be vented, some heat is always lost out the vent or chimney.

Ontario Green Home “LEED Platinum Candidate – Kitchener, Ontario

Compare this to the ability of electric fireplaces to create a comparable flame effect with mere pennies worth of electricity. Because the heating element is separate from the flame generation on an electric fireplace, the heat is much more controllable than on a gas fireplace. In fact, the flame can be enjoyed without any heat at all. When we do want heat from an electric fireplace, the heat level can be set to a comfortable temperature, and turned off when heat is no longer desired. No heat is lost up the chimney, because no venting is required for an electric fireplace – they are 100% efficient. With the heater turned on, an electric fireplace generates 4000 to 5000 BTU’s, enough to take the chill off a space up to 400 square fee, without overheating the room.
Zone Heating : Industry experts refer to ‘zone heating’, whereby a homeowner can use a fireplace to comfortably heat the room they are using, without heating areas they aren’t using or which are already warm enough. Because of the lower heat output and better control over the heat, electric fireplaces are particularly good at zone heating.
While a gas fireplace may also be used for zone heating, many owners of gas fireplaces find that they need to shut down the fireplace when it gets too hot for comfort, especially when it triggers the furnace thermostat to turn off the furnace in the rest of the house. When it comes to zone heating, gas fireplaces perform best in basements or other areas of the home that are unusually cold and are larger than 400 square feet.
LED lighting replacing incandescent. Many electric fireplaces have switched from incandescent light bulbs to LED’s, to generate the light effects and flames. This means that the homeowner will never have to change lightbulbs in their electric fireplace, making the fireplace virtually maintenance free. This also makes the fireplaces more energy-efficient, reducing their use of electricity to less than a penny per hour.
If environmental impact is of concern to you and your family, be sure to raise these issues with your fireplace dealer.

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