There is no denying it: having a fireplace available during the darkest of winter days can be a wonderful thing to have. The only thing that can be better than that is having a contemporary fireplace that offers stylish appeal as well as warmth. Nothing can achieve it quite like a flueless ethanol fireplaces.
There are, of course, pros and cons that are associated with using one. You should become familiar with the features involved in a flueless ethanol fireplace so that you can be as informed as possible about whether you should have one.
WHAT ARE THE PROS OF AN ETHANOL FIREPLACE?
One of the major selling points of traditional wood-burning fireplaces and other gas fireplaces is the actual flame itself. There is nothing quite like the ambiance that the real flame can bring to the table. What is great about a modern ethanol fireplace is that it brings you that real flame factor without the soot, smoke, or odors that are typically associated with burning wood. You’re there for the heat and the ambiance, not the smells of something burning.
Not only that, ethanol fireplaces are much cleaner and way easier to operate. They release only a small amount of carbon dioxide that is harmless. All you have to do is fill the burner with the liquid bio ethanol fireplace fuel that it uses and then light that sucker. How much easier does it get than that? It doesn’t, that’s what.
There are other benefits to owning bio ethanol fireplaces. Installing it is as easy as it gets. Because ethanol fireplaces don’t require a vent that a natural gas fireplace does, you don’t really have to install it anywhere. All you have to do is move portable ethanol fireplaces to the location that you desire. Literally, that’s it. How can you get an easier install than that? As far as installations go, it doesn’t get any easier than that unlike traditional fireplaces.
Keeping with the ease of installation, they are also highly portable. Because they don’t need an electrical outlet, you can pretty much move it anywhere inside your home or outside your home compared to wood burning stoves. This is great when you feel like the layout of a room is a bit stale; you can just move the ethanol fireplace wherever you want at a moment’s notice and do it again the next night should you so desire. That level of versatility is simply unmatched
Best of all, ethanol fireplaces come in a variety of options. If you live in a space that is limited in room, you might think that you can’t fit a fireplace into the mix. You could not be more wrong. Ethanol fireplaces don’t have to go on the floor, they can be mounted or sit on a tabletop as well. This allows you to get the ambiance of those ethanol fireplaces without having to take up any precious square footage.
THE CONS
The first and foremost is that fire is still involved. No matter how safe you are, a fire is still a dangerous thing. Implement safe practices as well as common sense when using fire to prevent any disasters from happening. So long as you do this, you shouldn’t have much of an issue.
The other major downside is that ethanol fireplaces are not meant to replace your home’s heating system. Based on the size of your ethanol fireplace, it is meant to heat a certain sized room for an amount of time that is dependent on the fuel you use and its capacity.
It’s great to use an ethanol fireplace in a smaller room for a few hours at a time, but they are not meant to heat your entire home for the duration of a winter, for example. Keep this in mind when you purchase an ethanol fireplace and you won’t be let down.
HOW TO SAFELY USE AN ETHANOL FIREPLACE
There are a few things that you might want to keep in mind when you purchase an ethanol fireplace to ensure that you are using it as safely and responsibly as possible:
- Never use an ethanol fireplace in a tightly sealed home or in a smaller indoor space.
- If you do this, make sure that you have a few windows open and a working carbon monoxide detector in the vicinity.
- There are not any standards in the United States for ethanol fireplace manufacturers to comply with, but make sure that when you buy one, it has been UL certified.
- Only use bio ethanol fuel that was created specifically for your appliance; do not use a substitute because there’s no guarantee on how it will respond.
- Under no circumstances should you touch the fireplace while it is operating; wait for it to properly cool down before you move it or touch it.
- Under no circumstances should you place it near furniture, blankets, curtains, beds, clutter, or any other thing that could possibly catch on fire.
- Never, ever leave a fire unattended.
Having an ethanol fireplace in your home can give you the warmth and ambiance of a traditional wood burning fireplace without all the downsides. Ethanol fireplaces don’t need comprehensive hookups or vents to use and they are highly versatile in that they can be moved easily on a whim.
And sure, they can’t replace your home heating system as a consistent heat source, but they can provide you with an ambiance of dancing flames like any other fireplace possibly could. They are safe and clean as it gets for something that involves fire and lets you explore your decorative creativity whenever you feel like. That is something that you cannot get out of a gas fireplace under any circumstances.
Make sure that if you do get an ethanol fireplace, you use common sense and best safety practices. This is a real fire we are dealing with, after all, and fire should never be handled in a negligent way.
Take the step to bringing an ethanol fireplace into your home today. You can put them anywhere you want – floor, tables, walls, wherever – and get the full ambiance of fire whenever and wherever you like. That’s a level of versatility that can’t be matched by wood stoves.