Are Fireplaces in Northeast Homes Cooling Down or Heating Up? Maybe Both.

Are Fireplaces in Northeast Homes Cooling Down or Heating Up? Maybe Both.

Gjana Construction

For centuries, a fireplace was often the primary, and sometimes only, source of heat.  Commonly located in the center room of a home, it had additional uses as a stove and oven for cooking, as well as heating or drying various materials.

In 2023, it is not likely that you will see anyone firing up their fireplace to rotisserie a chicken or cooking up an iron crock full of fresh chowder. Many Northeast homes in the U.S., however, do still use them as an additional source of heat to minimize energy costs, and sometimes as a cozy backdrop when hosting guests or while relaxing with a glass of wine. One can’t forget of course, evenings with soft music overlapped by the crackling sounds of burning wood and “just right” lighting of a fireplace, creating the perfect setting for a romance.

The latest available information from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that in the year 2021, including at least one fireplace into completed new construction in the Northeast was approximately 47%. While this figure is lower than a peak of 57% in 1996 in years falling between 1973 and 2021, it remains higher than the 1983 low of 40% during that same 27 year range, suggesting that the feature is still considered as a valued feature by homeowners.

While it is clear from the figures provided from the U.S. Census Bureau that a fireplace is far from playing a role as an essential core convenience of daily living, it is also evident that they are still considered valuable by homeowners; albeit, for different reasons.

As a decorative feature in modern homes, for example, a fireplace is almost exclusively displayed as a centerpiece located in the heart of a home’s formal living room, rather than as a use for warming up yesterday’s stew, or roasting chestnuts. Though most fireplaces to this day in Northeast homes are functional, their active use is rapidly declining as technologies, materials and general contractor techniques focused on energy conservation are continuously refined.

But advancements in energy conservation is nothing new. In fact, aggressive pushes for refinements in energy efficiencies started with the establishment of the U.S. Department of Energy in 1977 because of Inflationary effects felt by Americans beginning with an oil embargo by Arab members of OPEC against the U.S. in 1973.

Aided by a growth of government programs that include financial incentives for companies and Americans to gain traction towards energy saving initiatives, positive inclines in energy saving advancements have been sharp and steady since their late 70s and early 80s beginnings.

Yet, more than 48 years later, where it may be reasonable to expect that data between 1973 and 2021 would show a substantial decline for the inclusion of a fireplace into new construction homes, it’s rather surprisingly absent of any numerical evidence that might support any such adversely impacting occurrence. Instead, the climactic peak of 57% reached in 1996; after almost two decades of substantial leaps forward in energy conservation, greatly diminishes credence to an otherwise logical suggestion that demand for fireplaces could have been and will be capped by the ongoing trend. Such suggestions, might rather, be construed and disregarded as hogwash. In other words, pure conjecture based on a belief of what the data should be vs. the actual data as it exists.

Given that the shift in demand for a fireplace, in either direction, has been marginal at best during the 48-year time span discussed, it could be more aptly suggested that it is the views and expectations for the features intended purpose and practical applicability that has in fact, shifted. For the lucky homeowners, and most especially, those with a fireplace from an era when their use was prevalent, its historical value alone might contribute handsomely to the resale value of your home.

It is rare, indeed, to witness in 2023, unintentionally successful transitions, whereby an objects lifespan is extended well beyond the age of its obsolescence. And yet, I “here ye” point out, that the fireplace, as unnecessary as the pet rock, has effortlessly withstood the test of time, and showing no signs of being thrown into the fire. I for one, think that’s pretty cool.

Are Fireplaces in Northeast Homes Cooling Down or Heating Up? Maybe Both.

Gjana Construction