Having a Fire in Your Fireplace is Not Nearly As Romantic When You Can't See the Flames!

I have had a wood burning fireplace most of my life. I had tried a number of commercial products on the market with little success. The best thing I ever ran across was the following advice.

I used to work for a heating and air conditioning contractor and I headed up the fireplace and wood stove sales. I had worked there quite a while, selling all those commercial products to our customer. I would tell them how get they were, and how this was the best thing on the market. When an older gentleman began to tell me a simple and basically free way to clean the glass.

I took his advice, as crazy as it sounded and tried it at home on my fireplace.

You see my wife loves to have a fire almost every night. Don't get me wrong, I love a fire too, but I'm the one who has to haul in all the wood, start the fire and clean the ashes. She is the one that cleans the doors.

So any who, after trying his method and a little tweaking, she cleans the doors now very quickly and easily. Wouldn't you know it helped her on her end of the chore, but it didn't help me bring the wood in the house.

"Ashes Breaks down Ashes. "

That's what he told me. Once I thought about it, it made perfect sense. See when I was a kid, I worked in a restaurant cleaning the dishes. When coffee cups would come back to the kitchen with lipstick on them, we would use coffee to wipe them off with. The coffee would break down the coffee and lipstick stains on the cups. So I guess its kind of the same theory.

So here's what I've found that works the best. Take a non-abrasive glass cleaner, any kind will do. Spray down the glass with it. Don't wipe yet! Then spray down a crumpled up piece of newspaper in one spot pretty good. Then dip the wet part of the paper into your fireplace ashes. Wipe it in a circular motion on the glass. It will make a kind of paste. But as your wiping, the soot on the doors will begin to break down. Just do that all across the door surface and then wipe off. Then I spray the doors one more time with the glass cleaner and wipe off. It's the best thing I've found to clean my fireplace doors.

List of Items you'll need: Newspaper, Fireplace ashes, glass cleaner and paper towels.
More fireplace glass tips are available at www.fireglassonline.com.

In developing our articles, I wished to help independent construction industry sub-contractors with challanges in there business. I hope you find these articles useful. The construction trades in the following business models will find the most benifit. The glass, electrical, Hvac, plumbing, landscaping and general construction.

These are the industries that I have the most expertise in and are related service trades. The sites in development will have many features to assist you. Buying and selling of old inventory, supplies or tools. Industry videos on new products and interviews. Articles and much more. For more information go to our first site in development http://myglasstrades.com. Or contact me at mike@myglasstrades.com. Vistit Our new site in development: http://www.fireglassonline.com Thank you.

Simple Ways to Bring Down Your Heating Cost in These Tough Economic Times

A couple of the easiest things you can do yourself to bring down the cost of your heating bill.


As the cost of heating your home continues to rise, money is getting tighter. Here are just a few simple ideas to help bring down the cost of your heating bill.

1st - Change out your furnace filter. This is very simple to do and very inexpensive. I forget to do this myself. The best way to remind yourself to do it is to write it into your daily calendar. I put I down to do each season, spring, summer, fall and winter. It can save you up to 20%. Not replacing frequently can restrict airflow. Replacing will improve airflow, air quality and the life of your furnace.

2nd - Install a programmable thermostat. I just purchased one for a rental property for under $20 bucks. These are easy to install and will save you hundreds of dollars over its life span. With a programmable stat, you can automatically have it adjust the homes temperature during certain times of the day or night.

3rd - Turn down the temperature. It sounds drastic to some, but try it in baby steps. At our home we used to have "thermostat wars". When we installed a new programmable thermostat I set it just one degree lower than where my family was used to. 2 weeks later I dropped it one more degree. 2 weeks after that I did it again, and so on. We went from a setting at 72 degrees to 68 degrees and know one in the home knew the difference.

4th - Have an all-home humidifier installed on your furnace. This is the most costly of the steps to take, but makes a huge difference in the comfort level of the home. It simply adds humidity to the air passing through the furnace adding much needed moisture to the air. Humid air feels warmer. Making it easier to lower the thermostat temperature and still having the home feel warm.

I recommend having a furnace man install this for you. It is a little bit more complicated to install than the average DIY'er can handle. It has to be wired into the furnace, water line attached and a humidistat installed.

In developing our articles, I wished to help independent construction industry sub-contractors with challenges in there business. I hope you find these articles useful. The construction trades in the following business models will find the most benifit. The glass, electrical, Hvac, plumbing, landscaping and general construction.

These are the industries that I have the most expertise in and are related service trades. The sites in development will have many features to assist you. Buying and selling of old inventory, supplies or tools. Industry videos on new products and interviews. Articles and much more. For more information go to our first site in development http://myglasstrades.com. Or contact me at mike@myglasstrades.com. Thank you.

Now is the Best Time to Sell Replacement Windows to Your Customers!

Glass shops going green: Energy Efficient Windows Can Help Cut Tax Bills

Recent federal tax credits for energy-efficient home improvements allow homeowners to cut their tax bill by up to $1500 a year for purchasing qualifying windows and replacement insulating glass. (Sorry guys, no auto glass replacement products qualify.)

To help your customers take advantage of this tax break, you just need to know what products qualify, explain that to your customer, and provide some after-sales support to make sure they can take full advantage of the tax credit.

When is the tax credit available?

Now, through the end of 2010.

How much is available?

The credit reduced the amount of taxable income calculated on the homeowner's tax return. It provides a tax credit of up to 30% of the purchase price of qualifying products. Installation costs do not qualify for the tax credit. The tax credit is capped at $1,500.

Do my windows qualify?

Not all Energy Star-rated windows qualify for the tax credit.

Only windows with a u-factor and solar heat gain coefficient at or below.30 qualify. The federal government only recognizes ratings by the National Fenestration Rating Council (NRFC) to determine the performance value of any windows, doors or skylights. The values on your products can be found on the NRFC label.

Your window vendors and suppliers will have this information. Ask them for literature to help outline the process for your replacement window customer.

What do I need to do?

Know your product. Know what windows you handle that qualify for the credit and why. Let your customers know you have the expertise, glass tools and glass equipment to provide them with a quality installation. After all know one knows the ins and outs of their glass windows better than you. You are the expert.

Make sure your sales estimates clearly indicate which products are eligible for the credit.

Make sure your invoices clearly itemize the costs of those products separate from the installation costs. To increase the amount of the purchase that qualifies for the tax credit, some glass companies charge list price for the windows and offer free installation.

Save the NFRC labels of each qualifying window so you can verify it later. Get a manufacturers certification statement from the manufacturer that lists the products you have purchased.　

Fill out IRS tax form 5695 (2009) to determine the tax credit.

Save copies of the sales estimates, invoices, NFRC labels, certification statements and tax forms in a file for each customer. It can help them keep the tax credit in case you or your customer gets audited.

What shouldn't I do?

Just as this article is intended for informational purposes only, don't pretend to give legal or tax advice. Customers should be advised to contact their tax professional for additional information.

And don't wait to help your customers take advantage of this tax credit. Again, this provision of the Stimulus Plan is only in effect through 2010.

In developing our articles, I wished to help independent construction industry sub-contractors with challenges in there business. I hope you find these articles useful. The construction trades in the following business models will find the most benefit. The glass, electrical, Hvac, plumbing, landscaping and general construction.

These are the industries that I have the most expertise in and are related service trades. The sites in development will have many features to assist you. Buying and selling of old inventory, supplies or tools. Industry videos on new products and interviews. Articles and much more. For more information go to our first site in development http://myglasstrades.com. Or contact me at mike@myglasstrades.com.

Thank you.

"What kind of glass should I use for My fireplace or wood stove?"

This is a question we hear alot. Pyroceram, Neoceram, Robax, Tempered glass? The answer will very depending on the style you have. There are many different types of fireplaces and wood stoves that use a wide variety of different glass.
On fireglassonline.com we will help you to decide which type you have and how to order it. There are just a few simple questions you need to answer in order to do so.

- 1st - Do you have a fireplace or a wood stove? If you know the answer to that question then move on down. If your not sure then lets take a look at each one. Most fireplaces have 2 or more doors on the front. Where as for wood stoves they typically have just one door. Most wood stoves seal at the door with a fire-gasket. A fiberglass material that makes a air tight seal when the door is closed. There are also fireplace inserts, which are pretty much wood stoves slid into a masonry fireplace. The idea is to make your fireplace, wood stove or insert as efficient as possible while still providing a beautiful view of the fire.

- 2nd - Now that you know what type of gas/wood burner you have. What kind of glass is currently in it? We are going to assume that the original manufacturer glass is in the unit. When the original glass broke, did it break in a million little pieces or did it break in larger "chunks" of glass. If the glass broke in a million pieces then is a tempered glass.


If the glass just cracked, or broke out if bigger chunks then it is know as a glass-ceramic. Commonly know as PyroCeram®(not Pyroceran), Robax or Neoceram. Just different brand names for the same type of product. On this site we use the term PyroCeram®.


- 3rd - What kind of heat does your unit put out? Is it a gas unit, using natural gas or propane? A wood burner that just for looks. Or a Air tight wood burner that produces over 600 degrees?

If it is a gas unit, then it typicaly uses tempered glass. Allthough gas units do put out heat, the top end of the heat against the glass is less then 400 degrees. The tempered glass in these units is usually of a clear tint.

If you have a masonry fireplace. A fireplace built in the home with brick and mortar. They can have a set of fireplace doors applied to the opening. These type of fireplaces are not very efficent and do not generate heat much higher than 400 degrees. At least not for any extended period of time. The glass in these types of door systems are typically tempered.

If you have an air tight wood stove or insert. These units can generate up to 1200 degrees and are very effecint. The glass in these units must be Pyroceram. Using any other type of glass will cause the glass to fail and could cause a home fire. Pyroceram glass has an amber tint in color.

If you have a high effiecentcy fireplace. This is a fire place that is not air tight, but has a adjustable damper that allows you to control and slow down the fire to burn more efficently and generate more heat. These units generally supply heat in the 600-1000 degree temperature range and need to use Pyroceram glass.

-Lastly- If your not sure about any of the above, there are still a couple of ways to find out. Look in your owners manual. It should tell your what type of glass was supplied. Contact the company you got it from. They should be aware of the different types and can advise you. Or just send us an email and give us as much info as you can. Brand name, size, wood or gas, and take a picture and attach it. We have seen most of the types out there and should be able to tell you what you need. Still not sure. Then replace it with Pyroceram. This will cover all the bases. It is able to be used in all the applications that we have covered.

If your looking to purchase Pyroceram you can go to www.fireglassonline.com