A fireplace is a heating appliance either built of stone or brick into the wall of your home or a complete appliance manufactured in a factory that is installed as a whole unit. A fireplace includes the firebox and the related fuel components, whether it be gas, wood, ethanol or gel fuel.
What can be confusing is understanding the difference between a fireplace and a firebox. A firebox is the inner box of a fireplace or stove that houses wood, faux logs and/or decorative media. The firebox is simply the interior box and does not indicate the fuel type or appliance type.
While some people use the term "stove" to refer to a cast iron, wood burning stove, modern technology has created a new breed of stoves that can burn many types of fuel. These days a stove can be made from cast iron, steel, or soapstone and burn wood, gas, pellets or operate on electricity.
Last but not least in the soup of indoor heater terms is the fireplace insert.A fireplace insert is a unit designed to fit inside an existing fireplace. Inserts are usually designed for existing masonry fireplaces, although some manufactured fireplaces accept inserts. Fireplace inserts typically are for people who want to change the fuel of their current fireplace. While you can upgrade from a wood burning fireplace to a gas one, you can not convert gas to wood. The piping that is run for gas fireplaces is not rated for the heat and particulate of a wood fire.
