Lifestyle Begins at Home and Hearth

Today‘s homes are far more than roofs over our heads; they are serving more and more as lifestyle centers full of activities, strong personal statements and luxuries that were unthinkable not much more than a decade ago. Witness what has happened to the utilitarian hearth in the North American home.

Today, the mark of a modern home might be a well-equipped exercise area, a fantastic home theatre, and a fireplace or stove in almost every room. There have been huge strides made in technological improvements to fireplaces and heating stoves, making it possible to put a fireplace almost anywhere as an outstanding design statement.

No longer constructed with brick and mortar as part of the house, fireplaces are built in factories and shipped to construction or renovation sites. Through the wall venting makes it possible to fit one of these pre-constructed fireplaces into a bathroom, bedroom or kitchen rather than just in rooms connected to chimneys. And there are fireplace inserts that can retro-fit either masonry or factory built fireplaces. Installation is easy in most cases and, in a condo apartment, it’s often just as straightforward as plugging into a socket with the advent of great electric fireplaces.

Along with enhancements to fuel and venting choices in stoves and fireplaces, there have been incredible improvements in size, shape, and performance. It is now possible and desirable to customize and easily install a fireplace anywhere, including hallways and outdoors.

“We spend a great deal on research and development and it has paid off in products that are revolutionizing the hearth and the home,” says Rina Ristagno of CFM Specialty Home Products, manufacturers of products under the well-known brands of Vermont Castings and Majestic Fireplaces.

She points to developments like the much larger viewing areas of Majestic fireplaces such as the Chateau 44 Direct Vent Gas Fireplace and its new, slightly smaller cousin, the Chateau 38, an easily installed gas fireplace with a large, clean face and powerful output.

These Chateau units are grand fireplaces -- complements to regal homes -- complete with cast iron andirons, but with the modern convenience of gas flames in astonishing glass sizes. Larger glass sizes follow advances such as remote controls that operate fireplaces almost like television sets, turning them on and off and regulating temperature settings and fan speeds from anywhere in the room.

Electric fireplaces -- and electric stoves -- go anywhere there is a plug and come with lots of pep, such as the1450 watt heater in a CFM Specialty Home Products’ model capable of a 4,500 BTU output. And the new models have enhanced flame emulation systems and ember beds for more realistic appearance.

Partly because of improved technology and partly because of their great charm, the heating stove has burst back on the scene as a home appliance. The flames produced in the latest model gas stoves have to be seen to be believed.

Heating stoves provide wonderful ways of creating room centerpieces and of creating personal statements. Stoves come in a variety of colors but not all of them are the traditional hues associated with these heat sources. The stove becomes a true fashion statement when it is coated in a porcelain finish like trendy new Suede Brown.

“A stove is a versatile and economic appliance as well as a decorator’s delight -- and they’ll give you light and heat even when the power goes out,” says Ristagno. in a reference to the August 14, 2003, outage that cut power to the U.S. northeast and parts of Canada.

Like modern fireplaces, heating stoves come in direct vent, natural vent and vent free models for easy installation in any room of the home. They also come with expanded views through larger glass windows and with greatly improved burner technology for the look of real flames in gas, propane and electric models. Harkening back to the old days, the stove is also a great source of heat. It gives off 35,000 Btus, give or take a few Btus.

There’s almost no reason to have an old-fashioned fireplace in a home today because it’s easy to upgrade to a modern model that will suit your lifestyle, with the new lines of gas fireplace inserts available from leading makers.