Glass fireplace doors - a harmonious combination of beauty, comfort and safetyA fireplace with a bewitching dance of flames, next to your loved ones, children - probably for many this is a picture of an ideal family vacation after a hard day at work. Nice, calm, cozy … But it is not always safe! Fire is as terrible as it is beautiful. Flying sparks can cause a fire, small children are not always aware of the danger of being near a fire, smoke from the firewood burning in an open firebox is possible, oxygen is burned.
You can solve this problem if you purchase and install a special door for the fireplace.
Necessity or unnecessary waste
By purchasing this product, you will eliminate these problems, make your home even safer and more comfortable. Let's try to help you make the right choice that meets your needs. The main factors that determine the choice are safety, style and ease of use.
It should be noted that the modern market offers a wide range of these goods: metal, ceramic, glass or combined heat-resistant doors are produced.
Deaf metal products seem to be more reliable in comparison with glass ones. They, of course, will make the fireplace safe, but they will close the access to the contemplation of the hearth. Such doors are acceptable in homes where the fireplace serves only as a heating device.
The ideal and most demanded in our time are doors with glass for the fireplace, giving the opportunity to observe the beauty of the playing flame, while controlling the combustion, each time without opening the firebox. Fireplace doors prevent smoke and combustion products from entering the living space, protect against plaque, soot, prevent oxygen combustion. Also, glass will protect against the painful and unsafe thermal effects of the flame. The sound insulation created at the same time will eliminate the annoying crackle of burning firewood. And most importantly: a fireplace with such a door is much safer and even more economical than an open hearth.
Requirements for materials
For fireplace doors, high-strength and heat-resistant thermal glass is used, which has undergone special hardening and processing. It can withstand up to 10,000 C for several thousand hours of direct use. This glass contains elements such as heat-resistant quartz, transparent crystal ceramics. The most popular is quartz glass, as it exhibits the smallest expansion when heated. In terms of its strength, such material is not inferior even to metal products. The use of ordinary thermal glass (for the sake of economy) is impractical, since it cannot withstand temperatures above 1500 C and may crack at the first use.
Glass can be of various sizes depending on the parameters of the fireplace, various geometric shapes and curvature.
It is possible to use tinted glass, which will dim the bright light of the flame. Installed double or laminated glass will contribute to even safer use.
When choosing a glass, it is necessary to consider:
- heat resistance, paying attention to the type of fuel;
- lifetime,
- the thickness of the glass screen (not less than 3.5 - 4mm).
Refractory glass has a drawback: it is quite heavy … This must be taken into account when choosing the fastening of the doors and the methods of their functioning, creating the most comfortable conditions for handling this device.
Door decoration
There are two operating principles for fireplace doors: mechanical or automatic.… With the mechanical principle of operation, the structure is opened manually, with the automatic principle - with the help of a special electric motor that is automatically controlled. Given the rather heavy weight of the devices, automatic mechanisms are recommended, which also provide additional protection against burns.
Glass doors can be closed in several ways. There are lifting and sliding options. The most common are double hinged doors, when both flaps are fastened in the center, hung on side hinges, and swing doors, in which one of the flaps is attached to side hinges; the doors close upwards. Modern designers have developed a model that opens on the guillotine principle, which allows you to operate the fireplace with both a closed and open firebox. Convergence of doors is possible using magnets. Magnetic doors prevent incomplete closing or accidental opening.
When choosing a mount, you should pay attention to the fact that complex structures will be more expensive than simple ones.
The chimney door is fixed with special hinges on a steel or cast-iron frame-frame. Handles are made of non-heating material. The choice between steel and cast iron frames depends on the decorative preferences of the customer. Recently, however, steel frames are still preferred, since cast iron, withstanding high temperatures, is subject to physical wear.
The door is the front component of any fireplace, therefore, when choosing it, not only functional, but also aesthetic parameters are important. The design depends both on the functions of the fireplace and on the wishes of the buyer. It is possible as a standard complete set, including a frame with a metal frame, and individual options using decorative forged elements, ornaments, stained-glass windows.
Care and Installation Tips
When caring for glass fireplace doors, certain rules must be observed:
- clean only after complete cooling;
- use special compounds that form an additional protective film and facilitate subsequent care.
For ease of maintenance, you can purchase a self-cleaning refractory glass covered with an invisible layer of metal oxide, which, with increasing temperature, contributes to the complete combustion of the settling soot.
Experts recommend purchasing the doors before the start of the brickwork, as it can be quite difficult to find a door for a ready-made firebox.
The purchase and installation of fireplaces and related accessories is a trend in modern design of living quarters. And when buying certified glass fireplace doors, you can be sure that you have made your home not only cozy, but also safe.
