As fuel costs rise and autumn leaves start to change it is time to consider how you will heat your home this winter.

Consider using your fireplace, if you have one. One benefit of living in an older home is that they very often come with fireplaces in several rooms — including bedrooms.

But don't despair if you don't have a fireplace. There are simple ways to add one.

Shown in the picture is a 900-square-foot apartment makeover designed by Donna Sapolin of Point Click Home. Her objective was to modernize an older apartment while adding a new fireplace.

Because there was no existing chimney and scant room to work with, it was quite a challenge. Success was achieved in a resourceful way.

Sapolin had built into a corner of the living room a raised, modern EcoSmart Firebox. Because this device is insulated and requires no flue, the designer and builder were able install the fireplace into the wall where it serves as a charming focal point alongside the built-in shelves and television.

More important than becoming an attractive centerpiece, the fireplace helps keep the tiny apartment warm because more than 90 percent of the heat it generates stays in the room. This type of minimal "fireplace" is perfect for tight spaces.

For those who want to replicate Sapolin's solution for their own small space, it might be useful to know that the EcoSmart Firebox offers a minimal burner that is easy to design into a wide variety of positions. The EcoSmart Burner is fueled by ethanol, only 4 feet 4 inches tall, less than 1 foot wide and just under 1 foot deep.

Freestanding woodstoves offer another means to heat individual rooms effectively. Yet, while wood-burning stoves can be charming, the smoke they produce has raised concerns about air-quality concerns.

In Scandinavia the widespread use of wood-burning stoves was linked to air pollution. In Denmark, woodstoves manufactured by RAIS have addressed that concern.

The first RAIS woodstove was the brainchild of renowned Danish architect Bent Falk, who in 1970 used Swedish naval-grade steel rather than cast-iron to achieve a lighter-weight unit that could allow greater heat output. The invention earned Falk the 2007 Danish National Design award.

As a result of Falk's design, woodstoves could be made taller, permitting more stove size for the floor space taken up, better viewing of the fire, and room under the firebox for wood storage. RAIS produces a wide variety of small, freestanding stoves equipped with a patented, air-cooled, stainless steel handle that protects hands from burns when opening the unit to put in wood.

Christine Brun, ASID, is a San Diego-based interior designer and the author of "Big Ideas for Small Spaces." Send questions and comments to her by e-mail at christinebrun@sbcglobal.net. To find out more about Christine Brun and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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