If you have a double sided fireplace that is open to two rooms, you probably have a problem with smoke. Truth is, most see through fireplaces smoke because of drafts in the home that push air through the fireplace from one room to the other, bringing with it a puff of smoke. Some see-thru fireplaces are so sensitive that just walking past them can pull a puff of smoke into the room. For this reason many people (maybe even yourself) have found this page in hopes of a solution...so here it is.

"The Solution: Add glass doors to both sides of your fireplace and burn it with the doors closed!"

Yes, if you add glass doors to both sides of your fireplace and burn a fire with the doors closed, you can minimize your smoke problem. Glass doors custom made by Design Specialties can be burned with the doors closed and can have a draft assembly to feed air to the fire. Most other brands must be burned with the doors open unless you have them made with very expensive ceramic glass. Doors made for this purpose will have a draft assembly at the bottom that allows air to feed the fire evenly from both sides causing the smoke to go straight up the flue when the doors are closed. The room air rushing towards the fireplace keeps the glass relatively cool and the flames away from the glass.

"Can I close the doors on one side or just seal off one side with a solid piece of glass?"

If you attempt to burn the fire with one door open and one door closed, or you are considering sealing off one side with a single fixed piece of glass, you will quickly discover that the flames will blow towards the closed side just like they would on a typical single sided fireplace. So essentially the closed door or sealed off side acts like the back of the fireplace where the most intense heat builds up. Even the best fireplace doors that are designed to be burned with the doors closed cannot handle prolonged exposure to direct flames and the heat build-up will eventually shatter the glass.

"Can I use ceramic glass to seal off one side?"

This may be a potential solution, but may not be the most practical. While tempered glass can handle sustained temperatures of about 400F-500F degrees, pyro ceramic glass can handle upwards to 1200F degrees, which is enough to handle the heat of a typical fireplace. The downside is, ceramic glass very expensive and much more fragile than tempered glass, so it is easy to break. You can expect to pay $1200 to $1800 more for a glass door with ceramic glass than tempered. For that price, you can probably buy a door for both sides of your fireplace and save money.

Ceramic glass has rough edges that cannot be smoothed out, so it requires a frame all the way around the glass. If you want ceramic glass on your fireplace doors, each pane will be framed, whether you buy cabinet or bifold doors. If you want to seal off one side with a single piece of glass, we can do that, but it is not our recommendation. We still suggest glass doors on both sides that can be opened and closed, whether you use ceramic or tempered glass.

Glass Doors with Gas Logs

If gas logs have been added to a wood burning fireplace, you must burn the logs with the doors open, whether it is a single sided or multi-sided fireplace. Not only does it create a potential hazard of explosion, the controls and burners can overheat and fail, it will cause excessive soot and carbon monoxide (a toxic gas). This rule is for gas logs that are made to be installed in a wood burning fireplace, this does not apply to certain gas fireplaces that cannot ever burn wood, they are special appliance that draft completely differently and are made for such purposes.

If you want to add glass doors to your fireplace, please Email Pictures Of Your Fireplace to us so we can make some recommendations.