“Better” means a different thing to each of us and both fireplaces and furnaces have their own, very specific fortes, so here are a few features that makes a fireplace a better choice and a few others that make furnaces stand out:
- Efficiency – both solutions are efficient, but fireplaces can heat only one room efficiently (two, if the construction is suitable for emitting heat through the front as well as through the back), while furnaces can be connected to multiple heaters installed in the rooms of the house; Energy efficient gas fireplace inserts provide cost effective heating.
- Amount of work – a fireplace that uses wood requires the owner to work a bit more than a furnace. The wood needs to be bought, transported to your address, chopped up, carried to the furnace and the fire in the furnace needs to be continuous supervised, while furnaces only need you to switch it on and to have it maintained;
- The atmosphere – there is nothing cozier and more romantic than sitting by the red flames of the fireplace, so this is definitely a plus that makes fireplaces unique. You can nowadays get gas-operated fireplaces that simulate genuine fire, but that artificial fire is usually created with orange and red plastic stripes.