Love... is a burning thing...

And I... love my new fireplace. (yeah, I'm singing it).

I'm so excited for our first project that we can actually SEE and FEEL and, for the first three hours, smell*.

Behold: the new gas fireplace insert!


It's almost done- the little riser box that will cover the base is still being made, and should be installed in a few days.

Here's the before:

Our house had a lovely masonry fireplace when we bought it, but it had some chimney issues that needed repair if we ever wanted to use it for something silly like... lighting a fire. Our options were to hire a brick mason to fix the chimney's ash dump or to embrace the comforts of our times and install a much more efficient, easy and comfortable solution: a gas insert. If you know me, you know that I have a special place in my heart for wood stoves and wood burning fireplaces. But I have a very different and foul-flavored place in my heart for stacking cord wood, maintaining chimneys, breathing in smoke, cleaning ash etc. Plus, the idea of buying wood for a fireplace just sounds silly. Isn't one of the perks of wood burning fireplaces is that you're heating your home off the fatta' the land? If you're going to have a wood burning fireplace or stove, you should chop and haul your own fuel source. This I believe. Since the age of about 12, I've been OVER the idea of chopping and hauling. Thus, the gas insert was a clear winner.

My only concern about an insert in our fireplace was aesthetic: that it would detract from original masonry. And I learned that, to a certain extent, this is unavoidable. We have an arched brick pattern that doesn't nicely fit any of the prefabricated fireplace surrounds on the market. We thought of having one custom made to match the radius of the arch, but after looking at some photos of sample work from some a few reputable dealers in town I realize that it would be a lot like trying to match a paint color; there was a high risk that the end product would come out looking like we almost got a good fit. And for the kind of money involved, I wasn't too interested in an almost-looking result. We looked at a lot of options and spoke with a lot of people and finally found a good fit in someone who seemed to "get" that a fireplace was not just art and not just a furnace: it's a little bit of both. That company was Sundance Energy, and they've been great from start to finish; from sales to pricing to installation. Interestingly enough, I only called them on a whim in response to a direct mail coupon. All of the places that were recommended to us were overpriced and I felt underwhelmed by their quality in terms of service and product. Go figure.
But back to my point... we decided to abandon the idea of an arched surround, and go with a square that would overlap the existing arch. I'm glad we did. The arch is still visible from the outer perimeter of the masonry, and the doors of the surround echo that shape without being matchy-matchy. The doors also have the same pattern as the two leaded glass windows in either side of the fireplace, so it looks right at home in the living room. I think so at least. What amazed me--and I know this will sound stupid--was how much the fireplace really warms up the room. I'm not sure if it conveys in the photos, but the empty fireplace was really a cold black hole (visually and thermodynamically!) and I didn't realize that until it was gone.

So I'm going to sign off and and go sit by the fire. I predict I will be spending a lot more time in my living room from now on. I really wish we would have done this even earlier.


*I was told to let the thing run for about three hours, during which time it will burn off a smell I can only describe as "new doll smell."