Why Is It so Important to Install Glass Fireplace Doors?

A cozy fireplace is the dream of many homeowners. Everyone loves the idea of an elegant living room with well-arranged couches and a cozy fireplace to enjoy the evening with members of the family. That’s why it’s very important to install a glass fireplace door for your safety.

The wood fireplace is a classic and timeless fireplace type. Over the years, the use of fireplaces and fireplace types has evolved. Apart from keeping the home warm and maintaining the home’s temperature, fireplaces offer many more benefits for the home and members of the house.

Why Glass Fireplace Doors?

Fireplace glass doors serve as protective barriers between the burning fire, the people sitting around the fire, and the furniture pieces close to the fireplace. Glass doors significantly reduce the risk of the occurrence of a fire accident or a member of the family getting burned.

When wood burns, it’s only natural that sparks and embers of the burning log fly out of the blazing fire from time to time, without some form of protection, this is a potential accident waiting to happen. A glass door ensures that embers and wood sparks remain in the fireplace where the wood is burning and not in the living room where it can hurt or damage the home.

Besides embers and sparks, burning wood tends to roll out of the fire while burning. Without a glass door in place, the log could move right into the living room. This could start a fire in the home. The glass door also helps to protect your pets and children from the burning fire.

Makes Your Fireplace Efficient

Without a fireplace glass door, your fireplace will not be performing the function of heating your home optimally. An open fireplace only produces about 10% heat energy from burning woods, no matter how many you burn.

A glass door installed on your fireplace makes your fireplace efficient and helps to provide more heat energy for the home. Experts agree that the installation of a glass door triples the heating efficiency of your fireplace. The glass radiates the heat generated from the burning logs into the room instead of just trapping them inside the fireplace compartment.

Improved Style and Beauty of the Home

Glass is a versatile interior décor material because of its unique style and the elegance it brings into different spaces when incorporated. The fireplace is no different. Installing a glass door in your fireplace adds elegance to your fireplace, which in turn improves the overall look and style of the living room.

Apart from style and elegance, fireplace glass doors are available in different styles, shapes, and colors and can be personalized to meet the unique requirements of the fireplace in your home. This makes the door an accessory that fits into any existing décor theme that you have in your home as there will be a glass door out there that will meet the requirements.

Besides the above, glass doors also make your fireplace appear neat, which does not disrupt the beauty of your living room. They conceal the disorganized logs and the dirty fireplace compartment from prying eyes.

Types of Glass Used as Fireplace Doors

1. Tempered Glass –toughened and Heat Resistant Glass for Great Safety

Tempered glass is commonly used as glass doors for fireplaces. Also known as safety and toughened glass, tempered glass is heat resistant and can withstand hot temperatures between 400 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Apart from being heat-resistant, tempered glass is also strong and durable. It is up to seven times stronger than standard glass, and this is also one of the reasons why it is commonly preferred in use as glass doors for fireplaces.

When using tempered glass as your glass choice for your fireplace door, it is recommended that there be a safe distance of about four to six inches between the space for burning in the fireplace and the glass door. This is to prevent sudden breakage from happening, which may occur when the glass door is too close to the burning fire.

If the glass breaks, there are no injury risks as tempered glass breaks into dull and small pebble-like pieces that are incapable of causing harm. This is why it is also called safety glass. This not only protects people around the glass from getting injured but also makes it easy to clean the mess created afterward.

2. Laminated Glass – Offers Great Safety with Heat-absorbing Shield

Laminated glass is also another type of glass that is commonly used as fireplace doors. Just like tempered glass, laminated glass is also a type of safety glass.

The laminated glass simply refers to the combination of two or more sheets of glass included with an interlayer of vinyl between the glass sheets. In the case of breakage, instead of the glass shards flying about, the glass breaks into fragments that stick together, which makes it a safety glass.

In heat applications, laminated glass expands and remolds into a rigid and heat-absorbing shield. This makes it a suitable glass type for glass doors in fireplaces.

Design and Versatility of the Glass Fireplace Doors

Pyran Platinum Glass: Pyran platinum glass is a ceramic glass material that is colorless and clear. It is impact safety rated and has protection against fires, which makes it suitable for use as fireplace glass doors. The glass is also layered with a film to create an extra protective layer. It is an excellent option for keeping the home safe from the potential risks of fire and injury.

Pyran (Laminated) Glass: Pyran glass is made from a glass ceramic that has been laminated. The glass has a bright appearance and was created to withstand thermal shock.

Pyrex Glass: Pyrex glass is made from borosilicate sand-based glass. It is an inexpensive option among other fireplace glass materials and hardy too. Pyrex glass for use as fireplace doors can withstand extreme temperatures up to about 914 degrees Fahrenheit.

Robax Glass: Robax glass is a ceramic glass type that has a near-zero thermal expansion rating. This makes it fire resistant and can withstand extreme temperatures up to about 1472 degrees Fahrenheit.

Robax glass doors are strong and durable. Unlike other glass types with transparent surfaces, robax glass has a slight yellow tint on the glass surface.