Fireplaces add ambiance, value

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Vikki Ruisch had a fireplace in her house, but it was in a room her family barely used. So during a remodeling project last year, she had a fireplace built in her heavily trafficked living room, where everyone could enjoy it.

Ruisch figured it would add value to her Woodcliff Lake, N.J., house, but that wasn't really an incentive. She grew up having a fireplace in her home and just wanted one, or two. She also had one put in the master bedroom.

"I don't know anyone who doesn't like a fireplace," she said. "We use ours, especially this winter. My husband puts the one on in the bedroom when he gets up about an hour before me, and then it's nice and toasty by the time I get up."

Ruisch is one of many home and business owners installing fireplaces to add ambience, warmth and financial value to where they live and work. A fireplace can increase a home's value by 6 to 12 percent, according to the National Center for Real Estate Research of Littleton, Colo.

In addition to the standard stone or brick fireplaces found in typical settings like single-family homes and ski lodges, temporary hearths can be installed in the tiniest of apartments and the most intimate of restaurants.

Ventless fireplaces are a swiftly growing segment of the market, targeted for apartments or other buildings where permanent changes can't be made. Those that run on electricity can, with the flip of a switch, heat a space up to about 400 square feet, or, in hot weather operate with no warming element.

One manufacturer, HearthCabinet Ventless Fireplaces in New York City, offers products that use alcohol gel cartridges instead of electricity, said Sara Check, marketing and sales manager for the company.

"Lots of people wanted a fireplace and didn't have a chimney, gas line or vent," Check said. "So we are filling a void in a niche market. The cartridges work like a sterno canister works. You can replace the top and then use it again."

One of the drawbacks to ventless fireplaces, specifically because there is no way to send gases outside the building, is that they often emit an odor, similar to the smell from an oven when it is on. But Check said HearthCabinet throws off little, if any odor, because of the gel cartridges it uses.

"Since our cartridges use isopropyl alcohol, our emissions don't really have an odor," she said.

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Fireplaces add ambiance, value