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glass doors open....or closed.....what's best?

16 years ago

We have a normal wood burning fireplace. Doesn't get used too much here...only about two months of the year.

But every time it's used the "discussion" starts again....

I get a good fire going and leave the glass doors open.

The father-in-law stops by and proceeds to go on about how much more heat would be 'radiated' into the room if we kept the glass doors shut.

Tired of the yearly banter...I thought I'd ask here.

Does anyone have an opinion about whether you get more heat into the room with the doors open or closed?

Comments (2)

oruboris
16 years ago
Closed: you may get a tiny bit more heat into the room with them open, but it sucks a lot of expensively heated air out the doors and up the chimney.
garyg
16 years ago
If the glass doors are tempered safety glass, as most are, you have to watch that burning logs do no rest against the glass doors or they may shatter/crack. You also have to watch not to overheat the fireplace with the doors closed.

Many high quality fireplace inserts use ceramic glass which is much stronger than tempered glass and allows the radiant heat to pass through the glass. Tempered glass does not allow for radiant heat to pass through.

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