There are several options to get more heat out of a fireplace.

One of these is an original Pennsylvania fire back. This is a heavy plate of cast iron, often decorated on the front side, that sits in the back of your fireplace. The fire back gets hot and radiates more heat out of a fireplace.

Another option is called a Cozy Grate heater. There is one for wood-burning fires and another for gas logs. These units have a blower that turns on automatically bringing cool air in from the front of the fireplace, pushing it through a heat exchange system and then blowing warm air back out into the room. These are very efficient units but require an AC cord coming out from the front of the fireplace to plug into an AC outlet.

One of the best solutions to get a tremendous amount of heat is a fireplace insert. There are wood-burning and gas units. These are highly efficient airtight heaters that fit into an existing fireplace. They have an efficiency rating of around 80% (versus approximately 10% efficiency for an open, natural vent fireplace). They all have a glass panel, or a door with a window, behind which the fire occurs. Some of the wood-burning units can burn up to 12 hours on one load of wood and are capable of heating up to 2,500 square feet. There are also gas units capable of heating up to 3,000 square feet. The majority of these inserts have the capability of adding a fan for additional heat distribution.

There are also pellet stove inserts that have an overall efficiency of up to 82% and capable of heating up to 2,250 square feet.