FreshAir Fireplace Improves Indoor Air Quality and Adds Beauty to the Home

Stylish open-hearth design increases energy savings and heating efficiency

4/7/2005 (Minneapolis)

The FreshAir Fireplace™ from Heatilator® is the only open-hearth design fireplace that actually improves indoor air quality and increases heating efficiency by up to 80 percent. Unlike other direct vent gas fireplaces, the FreshAir Fireplace is totally open. A glass shield doesn’t separate homeowners from the warmth and beauty of the fire. The unit features a patented design that allows fresh air to be mixed with heated air from inside the house, dramatically improving indoor air quality. 

The FreshAir Fireplace uses a patented heat recovery ventilator to heat incoming fresh air with the combustion heat that is normally exhausted up the chimney flue. This “balanced combustion” operation—the latest technology in gas fireplaces—allows the home “to breathe” by providing a constant supply of healthy, fresh air to replace an equal amount of stale air being exhausted outside. The FreshAir Fireplace is outfitted with an easily replaceable MERV 8 air filter that further improves indoor air quality. 

The FreshAir Fireplace does not require a glass front. Its patented combustion air management system creates an air curtain across the fireplace hearth. This air curtain prevents exhaust gases from the fire from escaping into the home. Instead, these exhaust gases move up the flue, while clean radiant heat warms the room. The FreshAir Fireplace also minimizes heating costs by preventing heated air in the room from being sucked up the chimney.

“Although homeowners like the convenience and cleanliness of natural gas and LP, they don’t like to be separated from the fire by panes of glass,” says Kathy Repp, Heatilator Brand Manager.  “They want to feel the warmth of the flames. This is as close as you can get to a burning wood log. It has all the positives and none of the negatives like toxic gases escaping into the house or having to clean up ashes.”

The FreshAir Fireplace system constantly ventilates the home, which greatly reduces moisture levels and the potential for mold and mildew. Ventilation also reduces the buildup of carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and house odors. The FreshAir Fireplace effectively balances a constant flow of fresh outdoor air into the home while power-venting the stale air out of the home.

The innovative design of the FreshAir Fireplace recovers more than 80 percent of the heat normally wasted through a fireplace’s exterior flue vent. Because of this, the FreshAir Fireplace can be used as the primary heating device for most average sized homes located south of the Mason Dixon line.

The FreshAir Fireplace system connects to a specially engineered, high temperature heat recovery ventilator, the HRVplus, which keeps the exhaust and fresh air streams balanced to maintain equal air flow, while completely preventing cross-contamination. As they pass through altering channels in the aluminum core, heat is transferred from the exhaust gasses to incoming fresh air.  This fresh incoming air can pick up another 100 degrees in the core on its way to a home’s living areas. 

“The FreshAir Fireplace helps to reduce furnace run time and increases whole-house energy efficiency, resulting in an average annual heat savings of up to 25 percent compared to a home that doesn’t integrate the fireplace with ventilation,” says Repp. “In fact, in spring and fall, the FreshAir Fireplace can be the primary source of heat for the home.”

The FreshAir Fireplace is ideal for new home construction, no matter what kind of heating system it has. In addition, the fireplace can be positioned up to 54 feet away from the heat recovery ventilator, allowing for an extremely flexible floor plan design. “With the FreshAir Fireplace, you’re not limited to placing your fireplace on an exterior wall,” says Repp. “You can plan a gas fireplace for an interior wall, a peninsula or even a fireplace island.”

The FreshAir Fireplace is available at Heatilator® and Heat & Glo™ dealers and distributors. For more information on the FreshAir Fireplace, visit www.freshairfireplace.com  or call 1-800-927-6841.

Heatilator® is a brand of Hearth & Home Technologies™, Inc. the world’s largest fireplace manufacturer and a leading provider of hearth systems for the home. Heatilator embraces the traditional role of a fireplace with straightforward and dependable hearth products that make providing security and comfort an affordable reality Other brands in the Hearth & Home Technologies family include Heat & Glo™, Quadra-Fire® and Fireside Hearth & Home®. Hearth & Home Technologies is a subsidiary of HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI), the second largest office furniture manufacturer in the United States.