If Captain Kirk felt a chill, he might head towards a fireplace, and, being short of wood, flick his remote control to turn up a little heat.
He could control the heat … not too much, not too little … aah, just right! All he'd have to do is click the controller to the appropriate comfort setting.
Kirk would be right at home with the out-of-this-world design of fireplaces these days — the sleek and silver units look as if they might beam you up to a warmer place.
Gas and electric fireplaces are not new, but they have a new contemporary styling to them that many wood-stove manufacturers are adopting too.
Wood-burning fireplaces need a chimney but the gas-fueled and electric models have more flexibility.
"You can add a gas fireplace to any home and put it anywhere," said Gerry Loewen, a salesman with Gemco Fireplaces in Edmonton.
While gas fireplaces do not need to have a chimney, the gases do need to be vented and they need a fresh air intake pipe as well.
"You need to vent the gas out through a wall, or if it's in the basement, it must be vented outside, and that vent must be above grade. If it's a gas insert in an older wood fireplace, we can utilize the chimney," Loewen said.
The contemporary fireplaces of 2012 are long and rectangular and they fit into the wall rather than on the floor.
Most have no mantle, but instead sit flush with the wall and look very much like computer screens or televisions.
Many gas and electric fireplace designers have done away with the faux log look and instead offer bamboo posts for the flames to dance behind. Where wood fireplaces have a bed of ashes, the new electric or gas fireplaces have a bed of crystals.
"The newest look is linear. It's long and narrow, like a fish tank shape and they have glass beads that are placed along a long, ribbon-shaped burner. Or they may have a black mirror that together with the crystal media reflects back and forth and makes it appear as if there are more flames," Loewen said.
Heat source
Anyone in the market for a new fireplace these days needs to decide whether its primary function will be as a heat source or as a decoration.
"You need to see if it's rated for heat. You need to know how many BTUs it will put out," advised John Ellingson, of St. Albert's Chimney Guys.
If the fireplace is for a cool basement, you need a heater-rated fireplace, perhaps with a heat exchanger that takes the heat out of the flame and disperses it into the room. If the fireplace is meant for a hot-tub room, or a bedroom, you may wish to have a more decorative style, that doesn't put out much heat.
"Ask yourself if it's to look pretty or if it needs to put out extra heat," Ellingson said.
If it's heat you're after, but you also want a contemporary design, consider the soapstone fireplaces.
"Soapstone holds its heat five hours after the fire goes out," Ellingson said.
Purchase the fireplace to fit the size of the area you want to heat, Ellingson said.
He cautioned against purchasing so called vent-free fireplaces from an Internet source.
"They say they are vent free, but they are illegal to sell in Canada because they put the exhaust right into the house. They will kill you," Ellingson said, adding that if properly installed, gas fireplaces are as safe as any appliance.
Yes, the gas needs to be vented, but some of the contemporary fireplace lines incorporate the venting-chimney so that it appears to be part of the overall free-flowing design.
The Plazmafire model, manufactured by Napoleon, for example, is advertised as being as easy as 'hanging a picture on a wall.' The Plazmafire curves out from the wall, where the venting is hidden. The surround is metallic and the firebox is black so when the gas is turned on, the fireplace is a dramatic mix of silver, black and fire.
Water and fire
Max Blank-designed fireplaces from Germany, with their space-age shape, take gathering around the fire to an entirely different level.
One Max Blank model may be swivelled around the venting pipe so that you may turn the face and the fire towards the kitchen, for example, or back towards the living room.
Another Max Blank model is grey and silver in colour with a broad base, and a flat upper portion. The upper portion may have a waterfall incorporated into the design, so that in summer it may give the impression of coolness and yet, in winter, when the fire is on, it radiates heat.
Wooden heart
Wood-burning fireplaces are now more energy efficient and for those who love the smell and the crackling of a "real" fireplace they still have a place.
If your old fireplace smokes and is inefficient, it can be upgraded with a new high-efficiency wood-burning insert, said Ellingson, who admits to having both a gas and a wood-burning fireplace in his own home.
"I like having a switch to turn on so I don't have to make a fire. But sometimes, I still like a wood-burning fire. There's nothing like it," he said.
No matter what the fuel source, newer more efficient fireplaces could save you money on your heating bills.
"You are zone heating, so you heat the zone you're in and you're not running the furnace as much. A gas fireplace is likely three times more energy efficient than your furnace, so it's not costing you as much to run. And, unlike your furnace, it works without power so if there's a power outage, you still have heat," said Loewen.
Electric models
Electric model fireplaces are about one third the cost of gas fireplaces, and of course, you can flip a switch on these appliances too.
The modern electric fireplaces incorporate many of the design trends seen in gas fireplaces.
"If you don't want to go to the trouble or expense of hooking up to a gas line, you get electric. Electric fireplaces may also have crystals," said Deborah DiGiuseppe, owner of DiGiuseppe Interior Design Ltd.
