Although many homes now have the option for a Gas Fireplace that can be mounted in many more locations then a standard wood burning fireplace without a good blower kit you may find your beautiful fireplace is nothing more then decorative.
A Fireplace Blower kit adds a specialized fan that is thermostatically controlled to distribute the heat from behind your glass fireplace shield into the rest of the room and your house.
Many fireplaces come with this option and it is important that you inspect your unit because you may find that you already have one but aren’t making use of it. You may have also purchased your home with a fireplace that has a broken blower unit that can be easily repaired by you or a HVAC technician.
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Blower kits come in a variety of sizes and as you can guess the larger you go or the ones with more features cost more. You can expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $800 for a full kit with most kits costing about $150.
If you are repairing a fireplace that already has a blower unit you can purchase just the parts you need to make the repairs. This means you most likely won’t need to purchase a full fireplace blower kit but you can simply order the fan unit without the box, brackets, speed control and wall switch plate and thermo sensor.
Maintenance of your unit is pretty simple. Every year you should open the bottom of your fireplace access panel and clean the blower fan with a brush and vacuum cleaner. It is important to do this every year to reduce the buildup of dust which can reduce the life of the blower along with increasing the possibility of a fire.
Most units do not require lubrication of the fan unit and a noisy fan may need replacing due to a bad bearing. This will depend on the design of your unit.
Selecting the right kit This is pretty simple but it will probably mean searching for the model and manufacture number of your unit. Hopefully when the unit was installed any information that was needed was provided to you but if you can not find the exact model number of your fireplace ask your HVAC technician to provide it to you on their next inspection and cleaning visit.
Blower kits can increase your savings for home heating and improve the enjoyment of your gas fireplace.
Installing units can be done by a home owner but contact your HVAC technician or ask them about a blower unit when they come to service your gas furnace.
The YouRepair Store sells a full line of Gas Fireplaces and Parts including Fireplace Blower Units.