In light of these issues, many homeowners have decommissioned their traditional fireplace and installed a wood- or gas-burning appliance. These appliances are an appropriate choice when you want to improve heat output in your home, when you want to avoid repairing a damaged chimney, and when you want to install a fuel-burning device where a chimney does not currently exist (such as in a bedroom, kitchen, or family room).

Wood Stoves and Wood Stove Inserts
Wood-burning appliances enable homeowners to improve heating efficiency without losing the coziness traditionally associated with building a wood fire. Like conventional fireplaces, wood burning appliances burn a familiar and renewable fuel source - wood. Unlike conventional fireplaces, however, the latest generation of EPA-certified wood burning appliances generate heat effectively and burn fuel cleanly.

There are two types of wood-burning appliances:
Freestanding wood stoves are self-contained wood-burning appliances that vent to the outside through a specially designed chimney system or through your existing fireplace. Self-installation of freestanding wood stoves is strongly discouraged, in part because of these complexities:

• To install a freestanding wood stove with its own chimney system, it's necessary to cut a hole in your roof. Once this chimney system is run through to the outside, the hole must be properly sealed and the entire appliance secured.
• When venting a stove through your existing chimney system, it's necessary to install a correctly-sized flue liner and a chimney connector that extends to the top of the chimney.

Freestanding stoves are available in a variety of sizes and styles, and may be made from cast iron, plate steel, or a combination of materials. Homeowners may choose a stove that delivers heat by radiation, or by convective airflow. Newer models also offer additional features like built-in thermostats, side glass doors, and blowers.

Whether you buy a top-of-the line model, or one that offers just the basics, be sure to purchase a wood stove that is the right size. Heat output efficiency is reduced when the stove is too large for the space being heated.

Wood stove inserts (also known as fireplace inserts) fit into the firebox of an existing fireplace. A specially designed panel extends around the fireplace opening and impedes air from flowing into and out of the firebox. Current standards require that wood stove inserts be installed with a flue liner and a chimney connector. This ensures byproducts of combustion vent safely, thus preventing dangerous creosote buildup and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Freestanding Gas Stoves, Gas Fireplaces, and Gas Fireplace Inserts
Like wood-burning appliances, gas burning appliances offer excellent heat output and efficiency. But gas burning appliances offer other advantages. Since no ash is produced, these appliances require almost no cleaning or maintenance. Most important, this type of appliance is available at the flick of a switch. This is a huge selling point for homeowners who do not want to (or physically cannot) store wood, carry it to the stove box, and build a fire. Newer models even simulate the "romance" associated with fireplace, by incorporating logs and flames that often cannot be distinguished from the genuine article.

In California, a freestanding gas stove or a gas fireplace may be installed in one of two ways:

• Top vented systems vent through your roof using a specially designed chimney system or your existing chimney with modifications. This option is popular in new construction, single story homes, and during the retrofit of an existing fireplace/chimney.
• Direct vented systems vent through the wall behind or right above the appliance.

Gas fireplace inserts are decorative units installed into your existing fireplace. These stoves are installed with a flexible liner that runs the full length of the existing masonry chimney. A licensed plumber is required to install the gas supply line into the masonry firebox. Once installed, these stoves provide warmth and a friendly, comforting ambiance.