Install carbon monoxide detectors If you have ANY kind of gas fireplace, then your home needs of a CO detector due to a possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Ventless fireplaces produce small amounts of nitrous dioxide and carbon monoxide which can be deadly in large doses. In addition to carbon monoxide, ventless fireplaces also produce a high levels of water vapor. The increased level of water vapor in the home will increase humidity, increasing the risk of mold growth.

Most manufacturers don’t advise running a vent free gas fireplace for more than a few hours a day. Usually, that’s not much of an issue, because you’ll get hot in 20 minutes, and you’ll probably be ready to turn it off.

Fireplaces and other fuel-burning appliances are the leading sources for exposure to carbon monoxide. With the proper awareness and preventative action, CO poisoning is entirely preventable. Carbon monoxide is produced when fuels such as wood, gas, charcoal, kerosene, and oil are burned.

It’s natural to be worried when you smell gas in the home, but in this case, the odds are that the condition is harmless. In fact, a faint gas smell is an unavoidable consequence of using gas fireplace logs. More than anything, it’s a sign your fireplace is working the way it should.

Turn on the fireplace. If the flames reach above the gas logs and the look like a wood burning fireplace, then the logs must be vented. If the flames are small, an have a blue cast, the fireplace is vent-free.

You can close the flue when you shut it off, to keep the warm house air from going up the chimney, or if you have glass doors just leave the flue open all the time and close the doors when off.

“Fully Vented” gas logs must be burned in a fireplace that is capable of burning real wood and must be burned with the damper open. The reason for this is that they do not burn the gas cleanly and create exhaust that is very similar to burning a real wood fire. This exhaust needs to be able to go up the chimney.

Ventless fireplaces are more energy efficient than vented fireplaces because no heat escapes up the flue, so you’ll save money on gas utility bills. A vented gas fireplace uses more gas to create the same level of warmth because some of its heat escapes through the flue.

The short answer is – yes. However, to ensure your television isn’t damaged from the heat, care must be taken to ensure heat generated by the fireplace is redirected away from television. There are several ways to do this, such as installing a proper mantel and building an alcove for the television.

Yes, gas fireplaces are one potential cause of carbon monoxide poisoning. An improperly maintained or ventilated gas fireplace can create incomplete combustion, creating carbon monoxide, and causing this toxic gas to linger—putting those inside at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

One of the greatest risks of using a ventless fireplace is that of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be deadly inside your home. Specifically, carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas that, in high enough concentrations, can lead to serious health problems such as: nausea.

A properly operating gas fireplace will have a safe and secure glass enclosure, will ignite without delay, have a clean blueish color flame and will vent properly out through a termination cap that is clear from debris or obstruction.

Average Cost to Remove a Fireplace or Chimney

The risks of tackling this as a DIY job include fire, and death through inhalation if you do not properly cap off the gas pipe. In addition to the risks involved with tampering with a gas fire, fireplaces are very difficult to remove due to their weight and size.

But losing a fireplace can affect a home’s appeal and possibly even its resale value, real estate pros say. A fireplace can particularly be viewed as a valuable amenity in colder climates, and removing one could even reduce the number of buyers drawn to a property, some agents say.

At a rate of $1.06 per therm, a 5,100 BTU gas fireplace will cost around $. 05 per hour. If you run your fireplace for 3 hours per day, that comes out to around $4.87 per month.

Operating a furnace for one hour at 75,000 -100,000 Btu cost a homeowner $1.12 – $1.49 based on last month’s national average natural gas rate. By comparison, a natural gas fireplace running at 30,000 Btu per hour cost only 45 cents.

A gas fireplace offers a range of benefits over burning wood in your home, including the ability to instantly turn on, control and turn of the heat from the fire. The advantages of having gas fireplace can outweigh the disadvantages in many scenarios, making a gas fireplace a worthwhile investment for your home.

Gas Fireplace Cost Estimates**

Gas fireplace efficiency includes easy maintenance, so you have no ashes or soot in the chimney with a gas fireplace. Natural gas is a fairly inexpensive form of energy, so a gas fireplace is inexpensive to run. Gas fireplaces cost 17-19 cents an hour to run, or about $60 annually, Electric Fireplaces Direct says.

The pilot light burns significantly less fuel than a fire but it can cost $8 to $10 a month if your fireplace is fueled by natural gas. If your fireplace is fueled by propane, it could cost up to $20 a month. Turning off the pilot would reduce your energy costs during the summer.

A gas fireplace only produces heat when it’s on and the flames are burning, meaning that a gas fireplace can’t produce heat for your home when it has been turned off. Gas fireplaces aren’t always used primarily for heating purposes.

The answer to “Can you burn wood in a gas fireplace?” is a resounding NO! That is, if your setup is a true gas-only fireplace. In this type of installation, burning wood is extremely hazardous. With other kinds of gas fireplaces, you might be able to burn wood, but only under the right conditions.

In the battle for most efficient fireplace, gas fireplace efficiency is always going to win over wood fireplace efficiency. That’s because gas fireplaces burn more cleanly and produce fewer polluting emissions.

A homeowner can often recover over 100 percent of the expenses associated with adding a fireplace upon selling their home. According to the National Association of Real Estate Appraisers, adding a fireplace to home can increase the resale value of the home by as much as 6-12 percent.