The household fireplace gets quite a workout. It’s where romances are sparked. Where families gather on cold nights to warm their hands and hearts. It’s where Santa emerges triumphant after squeezing his plus-size tush down our blackened chimneys. And it’s where hundreds of dollars in heating costs go up in smoke each year. Seriously.

You see, the fireplace, which was once the central heater of the early American home, is actually causing our modern homes to lose heat. Here’s why:

Fireplaces suck

When you start a fire in the fireplace, it does two things. It radiates warmth in your general vicinity, but it also produces a powerful convection current that sucks warm air out of the room and up through your home’s chimney. This odd phenomenon actually causes your home heater to work overtime, pumping out more heat, which, in turn, is pulled up and out of the chimney.

Dampers don’t

The second problem with the average household fireplace is the damper. When the fireplace doesn’t have a fire going, it is standard operating procedure to close the damper. Right? The damper is a mysterious device tucked up into the chimney that is supposed to block the chimney from heat loss when the fireplace is not in use. These sturdy gadgets are forged out of metal and, consequently, lack an airtight seal to keep all of the air from escaping. Which make the average dampers a bit of a failure. They fail to accomplish the very job for which they were created.

Solutions

But don’t despair, there are several things you can do to make your home fireplace more energy efficient.

1) Chimney Cap Dampers These handy items seal a chimney at the very top. Similar to the concept on a storm window, the chimney cap damper caps off the chimney to reduce heat loss in the winter and cooling loss in the summer. Top seal cap dampers are available online and can be easily installed by a handyman or the do-it-yourselfer.

2) Firebacks Okay, you don’t have to be a handyman to install a fireback. These decorative cast iron accents actually serve a purpose. They slide easily behind the logs in the back of your fireplace. They look pretty, protect the rear wall of the fireplace and do something else. They radiate heat back into the room. Genius! Think of the fireback as a catcher on a baseball team. They keep throwing back whatever you throw at them, increasing your fireplace’s overall efficiency.

3) Fireplace Heater A radical solution is the fireplace heater. These electric heaters pull fresh air from the room, circulate it through a chamber heated by fire and then blow the heated air back into the room. Electric fireplace heaters can warm an entire room, no problem. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and slide right onto the fireplace hearth.

4) Fireplace Doors A pricier solution is glass fireplace doors. These transparent doors create a physical barrier between the room and the chimney, which reduces heat loss, which, in turn, reduces the work of your central heater. These glass doors also protect young children and pets from a roaring fire. Fireplace doors come in a variety of styles to help blend with your home’s décor.

Any of these solutions can work to help lower your energy bill. All it takes is a little upfront investment. And before you know it, you’ll be back on that bearskin rug toasting your accomplishments in front of a roaring fire.