I've had one for 4 years and I love it! Well built and works as described on the website.

It took me a little while to get used to the different style of fire it produces--a slower, more controlled burn. It definitely throws out the heat. Not as efficient as an insert, I'm sure, but for the recreational woodburner like myself, it works just great.

I'm thinking of getting one of their firewood racks. Like the grates, it's built of 3/4" steel bar. Heavy duty stuff. I like that!!!!!

As long as the fireplace is open (no doors or no insert), it is consuming a lot of excess combustion air which is air in the home that has already been heated. This air is replaced by cold outside air and the net effect is that house gets colder, although it may be warmer in the room with the fireplace.

If you want heat out of your woodburning fireplace, you need an insert. If you have a pre-fab wood fireplace, instead of a masonry fireplace, you don't have too many options.

Good luck.

FWIW, I just received their fireplace rack. 47 pounds of pure strength!

While Gary's point is valid, you asked about a better fireplace grate. This company makes nice stuff. You won't be disappointed should you decide to order one.

Best regards,
Greg

Hey Marra, if your looking for greater heat output consider installing a cast iron "Fireback". Its placed in the very back of the fireplace and its designed to protect the firebrick and of course being of Cast Iron material, radiate more heat out of the fireplace. I originally saw them on a website and were advertised with a large variety of designs available, on these plates, (Firebacks). They were selling for I think about $150.00 each. I would think that one would have to secure it to the back of the fire place somehow as not to have it inavertantly fall out though.

We purchased this grate last year. We love it. We use our fireplace at night when we are watching TV after work. I like it because we do get a little more heat when the doors are open and when we are sitting close to the fireplace. It's good as a additional source of heat, but it doesn't,t reduce our heating bill. This company also offers cast iron and heavy duty stainless Steele firebacks. They recommend stainless Steele firebacks for additional heating. I am thinking about adding this also.

When we moved in to our 'new to us' old home, the old tired thin grate was
sagging and did not produce such a good fire. We only used it a few sundays but rely on it for storm power outages. This grate provides a good draw and has kept us warm in our large open liv-din-kithen during the past two 6day storm outages. We do plan an insert update as it will be much more efficient overall, but if you only use your fireplace for storm back-up and a random holiday, this is worth it.

I have one and absolutely love it. We have a very wide (large) fireplace so we bought one of the larger models. Fortunately, the company is located in a nearby town so I drove up to get it. I cannot begin to imagine the shipping cost if I'd needed it shipped, given its weight! But it works like a charm, just as advertised. Much more heat, much less "tending." We do have to get longer length logs the next time we order -- it will work better with those. The guys in the showroom (very small, low-key) were terrific, too. Very friendly company to deal with.