- According to FireplaceDoorsOnline, while the fireplace is burning strong, glass doors must be kept open so they don’t shatter.
- Use fire screen mesh door to keep the embers from sparking out of the firebox.
- When not burning, keep them closed so your house doesn’t lose heat up the chimney.
- As well, closing your fireplace doors doesn’t actually cause your fire to burn longer.
- Wait until the fire is down to a few embers before closing the glass doors.
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How to keep fireplace glass doors open and with a spark screen
One of the reasons you should keep it open is that some of the standard tempered glass used will shatter once the fire reaches a temperature of 450 degrees, especially if there is no spark screen.
The doors should be kept open as the fire can reach between 500 and 1200 degrees. When the fire is burning, most of the fireplace heat will be lost.
You will lose most of the heat when the doors closed as the warm air will go out directly through the chimney.
Other glass doors used tend to have inferior finishes that cannot handle excess heat because the extra heat will damage those finishes. It gives a good reason for keeping the doors open.
The high temperatures of the fire can easily damage the walls surrounding the fireplace.
It can be reduced by opening the fireplace doors, which will help regulate the temperature when the fire is burning.
The open fireplace doors help prevent warm air from being lost, and it keeps cool air in; hence, it keeps your room warm.
Importance of fireplace doors at home
The doors will also prevent flammable substances and objects from catching fire, hence preventing possible fire outbreaks.
Keeping the doors open allows sufficient airflow to ensure complete combustion and minimize creosote build-up in the chimney, which is highly flammable. When there is a better airflow, combustion will be improved, hence opening the fireplace doors will ensure that more airflow is enhanced.
This prevents the build-up of creosote which sticks on the chimney, and this will reduce fire outbreak instances caused by the burning of creosote as it is highly combustible. Thus fireplace doors will protect your home from fire accidents.
When the fireplace door is left open for a whole night, it is just like leaving a window open. The house will be as much as the chimney will allow cold air to get in after the fire.
This can be controlled by closing the fireplace doors when the fire has embers to ensure the house maintains warm temperatures. This is because fireplace doors were initially designed to prevent heat loss from inside the house when the fireplace is not used.
When the doors are closed, neither the cold air from the outside nor the warmth from inside will move.
The doors should remain open; thus, the fire will burn hotter and more potent, generating more heat. When the burning area is closed, more heat is absorbed by the glass doors then, heat is regulated into the house better.
Protective effects of fireplace doors
When the fireplace doors are closed, they offer protection to everyone from fire sparks and logs tumbling out of the fireplace, which can harm your family and home.
The glass doors on the fireplace reduce hazards associated with burning logs in an open fireplace hearth; hence they will serve as a protective barrier.
The doors will prevent children and pets from getting too close to the fireplace, therefore, and they are protected from fire injuries.
When the fireplace doors are closed too early and you go to sleep, you will wake up and smell a smokey room.
When the fireplace doors are closed, the fire will not burn longer due to the plenty of oxygen coming from the chimney, which blocks the exit of carbon and other compounds from exiting the fireplace.
Shutting the doors impedes how much oxygen reaches the fire, but it does not increase the life of the fire. If you need to upgrade or change out your doors– check out our DIY guide.
How the fireplace doors maintain temperatures
Fireplace doors will help to lower the heating and cooling costs. A damper will help to seal the chimney from the rest of the house partially.
Thus it does not keep heated air from escaping from the home. This will ensure that the temperatures in the place are held constant, and this ensures that energy bills are minimized.
When closed, the fireplace doors will keep the house’s temperature. Glass doors used at the fireplace keep the heat in and draft out.
A good set of fireplace doors will block downdrafts from adding more chills to the house.
The doors will also keep the warmth inside the house and prevent it from escaping through the fireplace and out through the chimney.
The amount of air that goes out of the house can be minimized by the glass doors when they are closed, especially when the fire dies down, but they should be opened when the fire starts and when it is burning intensely.
Effectiveness in burning of the fire
When the fireplace doors are opened, the firewood can burn better, producing more heat. The doors will absorb and radiate the heat into the room better than a fireplace without the doors. The doors will also double and improve the fireplace efficiency rate.
Tempered glass doors should remain open when a fire burns
This is because they are susceptible to breaking when exposed to extreme temperatures. This is especially if the fire is less than 6 inches close to the fireplace doors. Oxygen is the critical element required by a healthy-burning fire.
Better airflow
If the fireplace doors are shut, less oxygen will not reach the flames, resulting in a dull blaze flame with little heat output; hence more air will be required to give intense flames; thus, much warmth builds up in the house.
The more air reaches the fire, the better the combustion and the warmer the place will be. Hot air rises, and when the heat generated by the fire finds its way up and out through the chimney. It tends to siphon all the warm air in the room with it.
Closing the doors in the hotter months curtails warm air from entering your house through the chimney.
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