How to Make Your Fireplace Insert Efficient

Manage the air flow into and out of the fire chamber with the bottom vent and flue control. If the fire receives too little air, it will burn low and eventually smother, but if it receives too much fresh air much of the heat will escape up the vent. Each fireplace insert will respond in its own way to different settings and its important to experiment with yours to see what works best.

Build the fire with the correct wood. Wet wood, also known as green wood, is fresh-cut, burns poorly and gives almost no heat. Accept only well-seasoned wood if you buy from a wood lot. If you cut your own wood, allow it to stand in a dry place for at least a year after it has been cut and split.

Combine fast-burning but low-heat woods mixed with slower-burning, high-heat woods to start the initial fire. Almost all dry, natural wood is acceptable for a fireplace insert, but some trees give more heat than others. Willow and sycamore wood have low heat output, while the same amount of oak or other hardwood give almost twice the heat.

Place the right size wood in the insert. Pieces that are too small require the insert to be refilled constantly and the wood burns hotter than may be safe. If the pieces are too large, the wood may not catch on fire but instead smolder, giving off much smoke but no heat.