The Flame Game

There's nothing that says "home for the holidays" like a fire in a hearth. Yet fireplaces have been relatively rare in Florida homes since the advent of reliable central heat.

Generations of Florida children have hung their Christmas stockings on the backs of kitchen chairs and gone to bed worrying about how Santa was going to get in.

Now, thanks to advances in technology, it's never been easier or cheaper to install a fireplace in either a new or an existing home—although some of them, particularly those not requiring chimneys, wouldn't solve the Jolly Old Elf's access problem.

About $2,000 will buy a nice gas fireplace with realistic-looking logs. An electric fireplace that looks more realistic than ever—and requires no installation—can cost even less, say sellers.

Consumers are responding by buying fireplaces at record rates.

"We install thousands of them," says Randy Chitty, regional director of sales and marketing for Heritage Propane, which does business as Sawyer Gas in Jacksonville. "Over the last decade, sales have increased dramatically. As the quality and the realism has improved, so has the demand."

Because there are gas fireplaces that require no vents to the outdoors, and others that require only small ones, traditional chimneys are optional, leaving designers to come up with some avante garde designs.

"Your imagination is your limit on the design," says Chitty. "You can even surround a fireplace with glass windows and doors."

In fact, fireplaces have become so affordable and easy to install that some homeowners are buying several.

"That's something that's changed in the past few years," says Chad Hendrickson, product manager for Heat & Glo, a brand of Hearth & Home technologies, the largest fireplace manufacturer in the world. "People put them in bedrooms, bathrooms, offices, every room in the house."

Not to mention in the backyard.

"Outside is really one of the biggest and fastest-growing markets," Hendrickson says. "Down in Florida you have a great market for that—outdoor kitchens, fireplaces, bon fires."

As you'd expect in toasty Florida, most fireplaces are installed more for ambiance than heat.

"It used to be more of a functional product, but now it's more of a lifestyle product," Hendrickson notes.

Manufacturers have responded by designing fireplace faces and cabinetry for every décor—from traditional to contemporary and everything in between.

There are elevated fireplaces for bedrooms, so they can be seen from bed. There are tiny cr?he-like fireplaces that emulate those found in European bed-and-breakfast inns. And there's a flashy new product called The Cyclone, which creates a tornado of fire in a glass tube.

"We did that one just to show people that there are new ways to think about fireplaces," Hendrickson says. "They can think of fire as art."

But the biggest advance for more traditional gas and electric fireplaces is that they more closely resemble their wood-burning counterparts. Indeed, some hand-painted ceramic gas logs look so much like the real thing that it takes some effort to tell them apart. And some gas fireplace logs even sit on realistic beds of embers, glowing as though they're on fire.

"The embers really add a nice touch, rather than having just a dry log with flames coming up through an opening," says Fritz Smickle, owner of Fireside Hearths and Grills in Jacksonville. "You have a whole slew of options for log designs—and they look very, very real."

But, unlike wood-burning fireplaces, gas units can be turned on and off with the flick of a switch, and require no storage of wood or emptying of ashes. Not surprisingly, the convenience factor has prompted many homeowners with traditional wood-burning fireplaces to convert them.

Adding to the appeal: some gas fireplaces don't even require a chimney or a vent to the outside. That further simplifies installation, since all that's required is connecting a gas line to the unit.

Although logic suggests that ventless fireplaces might rob homes of oxygen, such units come with sensors that turn off the flame if room oxygen levels fall. And there are codes that limit the size and type of room where they may be installed.

Other gas fireplaces require venting but, instead of a traditional chimney, vent tubes about the circumference of a salad plate can easily be snaked through walls or attics to the roof.

Electric fireplaces, of course, are the easiest units to install. Since they just need to be plugged in to the wall, they can be bought and used the same day.

"We do a lot of electric products, from little electric stoves that look like old wood-burning ones to traditionally-styled fireplaces," says Smickle. "The electric unit has definitely come a long way. I've been impressed with the look of the flames. It's much warmer than it used to be."

But perhaps the biggest advantage to an electric fireplace is that you can take it with you when you move, and you can move it from one part of the house to the other. The cost: from about $600 to $2,500.

Still, there are some who aren't willing to give up the crackle, smell and fuss of a real blazing fire.

"It seems like people in Northeast Florida just like the good, old-fashioned wood fire," says Smickle. "But you could always get a gas starter to get the thing going."

HOT TIPS

The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association suggests you ask yourself these questions before choosing a fireplace for your home:

• Where will your fireplace go? With today's venting options, a unit can be installed almost anywhere in the home—kitchen, home office, master bedroom, bathroom or even outdoors.

• Do you have an existing fireplace or stove? An inefficient or seldom-used unit can be made more efficient and easier to use with gas logs or fireplace inserts.

• Are you building new or remodeling? Think about fireplaces in the design stage. Do you want a fire for its aesthetic appeal or for its warmth? Some units are strictly for show while others combine beauty and utility.

• How much of your home do you want to heat? In Florida, choosing a unit that puts out too much heat might mean you won't use it as often—and when you do use it, you might have to turn on the air conditioner or open the windows.

• What fuels are easily accessible to you?

• Are you concerned about heating your house during a power outage? If so, remember to consider whether or not the unit requires electricity to get started.

• How much work do you want to do? Having a fire can be as simple as pushing a button or as engaging as chopping your own wood, building and tending a fire.

• How do you want your fireplace to look? There are many options available, from rustic to contemporary.

• How much do you want to spend? A fireplace can range from a few hundred dollars for converting an existing wood-burning unit to gas to several thousand dollars for a unit with all the bells and whistles.

HOLIDAY MANTELS, FLORIDA-STYLE

To the uninitiated, Christmas in Florida can seem like, well, like it's not Christmas. There's not much here that looks like anything most of us grew up seeing on Norman Rockwellian Christmas cards or on holiday television specials. To help inspire your Christmas decorating a full latitude south of Rockwell's New England home, we asked some talented local designers to decorate holiday fireplace mantels Florida-style.

For some, it's not Christmas without red and green decorations. This design, by Floral Designer Rick Jenkins of Bad Alice's Briar Patch, is traditional with a slight twist. Nestled in the greenery of this very symmetrical arrangement are some glittering red akimbo trees straight out of Dr. Seuss. "I wanted it to be traditional, but I wanted to bring in something off-kilter," says Jenkins. "It's elegant, but it's fun." Sparkly light green trees add another pop of color surprise to the arrangement. "That seems to be the big color this year," says Erin Poirier, the shop's owner.
Bad Alice's Briar Patch, 9313 Old Kings Road S., Jacksonville. (904) 733-8955

Valerie Feinberg Evans created a Florida-style cornucopia with her mantel design, suggesting tropical abundance with lemons and limes in glass columns and in a mirror-mounted wreath. The all-natural arrangement could be kept in place from Thanksgiving through Christmas, perhaps by switching out the citrus fruit with cranberries and refreshing the cut-flower arrangements, says Evans, who owns of Fine Flowers of Miramar, formerly Cynthia's Florist. This fireplace is at the home of Lisa and Trey Jackson in St. Johns Golf and Country Club.
Fine Flowers of Miramar, 3915 Hendricks Ave., Jacksonville. (904) 398-5824

Editors Note: Check out the front cover of this issue and you'll see that Christmas Florida-style doesn't have to feature red and green. The mantel design by Laura Howson, owner of Mineral City, substitutes the sea-god Neptune and cavorting turquoise sea creatures for Santa and his reindeer. For more information, see the description on the Table of Contents.
Mineral City, 240 A1A North, Ponte Vedra Beach. (904) 285-4784