When you enjoy yourself next to a crackling fire on a cold winter day, you probably don’t realize that your fireplace is one of the most inefficient heat sources you can possibly use. It literally sends your energy dollars right up the chimney along with volumes of warm air. A roaring fire can exhaust as much as 24,000 cubic feet of air per hour to the outside, which must be replaced by cold air coming into the house from outside. Your heating system must warm up this air, which is then exhausted through your chimney.

If you use your conventional fireplace while your central heating system is on, these tips can help reduce energy losses:

• If you never use your fireplace, plug and seal the chimney flue.
• Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is going. Keeping the damper open is like keeping a window wide open during the winter; it allows warm air to go right up the chimney.
• Install tempered glass doors and a heat-air exchange system that blows warmed air back into the room.
• Add caulking around the fireplace hearth.
• Use grates made of C-shaped metal tubes to draw cool room air into the fireplace and circulate warm air back into the room.