Fireplace to Keep the Home Warm during winter

A fireplace is nothing but a stove used for several purposes like cooking, boiling water, keeping the home warm during winter and rainy season etc. there are several types of fireplaces in the market, but the purpose of every type of fireplace is the same. Only the principle of working is different and their efficiency varies depending on the type of fuel used by them. Hence one must take care to ensure that he chooses the proper type of fireplace for his home.

The most important and old type of fireplace used in every home is kerosene fireplace. Kerosene oil is the most inefficient type of fuel available. It produces a lot of smoke and the quantity of heat and light produced by it is also very less. The smoke reduces the light output of the kerosene stove. Hence they are best avoided. There are several other types of oils like groundnut oil, castor oil etc which are plant based and used in the fireplaces. Even though they are better than the kerosene oil because of the less smoke produced by them. Compared to the kerosene or any other type of fossil fuel, they undergo complete combustion and hence they are environmental friendly, but the quantity of heat and light produced by them is as good as that produced by the fireplaces of fossil fuels.

Wood fireplaces and wood pellet fireplace are also used extensively everywhere in India and other developing countries. They are not efficient. They too are as good as any fossil fuel fireplace. They produce a lot of smoke and leave ash and charcoal behind. Hence, they are not environmental friendly. Any type of wood can be used in these types of fireplaces, but still there are several types of wood which are more effective than others. Even though it is always better to avoid using the wood burning fireplaces as much as possible, when there is a necessity for using them, at least ensure that you are using the most efficient type of wood which leaves very little ash and produces very less smoke, while producing maximum heat and light.

Pellet fireplaces are also used in several places, but they too are very inefficient like the wood burning fireplaces. These pellets are made of saw dust, husks of grains and litter also. In some places, dried cow dung pellets are used for burning. The cow dung is mixed with husk of dried grains and made into fine cakes. These cakes are dried in sunshine and are used as fuel for the fireplaces. The efficiency of this fuel is very less as it produces lot of smoke and leave behind ash. The quantity of heat produced is also very low.

The best type of fireplace that can be used is the gas fireplace. LPG or CNG are the most important type of gaseous fuels used everywhere and they are very efficient. They don’t produce much smoke and don’t leave any ash behind. Hence it’s always advisable to use gas burning fireplaces instead of any other type of fireplace.