We have two wood burning fireplaces in the house ... one in the family room that is used during the year and the other in the living room that seldom been used.

We want to convert the living room wood burning fireplace to gas logs. Under this section of the house is a 5 foot crawl space that has a gas line stubbed off for this fireplace. Would prefer to have gas logs, with glass doors, for a realistic as possible look ... as we do not need this to be used for heat.

Been doing some research and would like to hear from the knowledge base here on the pros and cons of gas logs with a glass door only or should we just keep it as a wood burning fireplace.

Using this fireplace as a gas option is "not need" or interested as a heat source.

Thanks.

The Inserts probably are better at heat dispersion since they are sealed cabinets and can have fans installed as an option to blow heat into the room.

From that stand point it would be a good source of heat for anyone using the room.

The only issue is that they do rust out, at least here in FL, and over time need replaced at a fairly hefty cost.

When our LP gas insert deteriorated to the point it needed replaced we opted to go Electric in our family room.

We rarely need the heat in Florida, and the wife wanted a show piece, it also has an electric fan heater in the unit with 110/220 as an option.

The E-fireplace is used way more than the old gas since it can be turned on in the summer without heating the room if you want. I don't think it was off from 6 am to 11 pm over the holiday.

If you are not going to use it for anything but decoration, I'd skip either gas option and put in a nice electric insert, all the benefits without the need to connect gas, vent it, and never a gas leak.

We went with a local company/dealer for Heat-n-Glow and the fire is not fake looking at all, you can get glass doors etc. The tech has come a long way, we can change color, intensity, lighting, electric heat, all from the comfy chair using a remote.

I'd never go back to a gas insert, we capped off the LP connection.

https://www.heatnglo.com/firep...ric-fireplace-insert

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
The Inserts probably are better at heat dispersion since they are sealed cabinets and can have fans installed as an option to blow heat into the room.

From that stand point it would be a good source of heat for anyone using the room.

The only issue is that they do rust out, at least here in FL, and over time need replaced at a fairly hefty cost.

We opted to go Electric in our family room since we rarely need the heat in Florida, and the wife wanted a show piece, it also has an electric fan heater in the unit with 110/220 as an option.

If you are not going to use it for anything but decoration, I'd skip either gas option and put in a nice electric insert, all the benefits without the need to connect gas, vent it, and never a gas leak.

We went with a local company/dealer for Heat-n-Glow.

https://www.heatnglo.com/firep...ric-fireplace-insert

Not a fan of inserts for reason you shared ... however, any form of heat output is not needed, just the look of a real fire.

Guess I should ask, is the pros and cons of just gas logs with a glass door ... not considering an insert.

Gonna edit my OP ...

We had a house in Tulsa with gas logs, nobody ever really used that room either, they do put off heat, and probably would be the least cost alternative, not sure what a plumber would charge to hook it up, and what codes you'd have to meet for safety.

Pros - gas is there, cuts install price providing the gas line that is there meets code, works etc.

Con - Cost depends on the logs, vented or ventless, remote, options... $500 to $2000 depending on what you want.. plus install. This dealer has lots of options, and a price calculator, might be helpful in starting your research.

https://www.efireplacestore.com/natural-gas-logs.html

BTW they have electric logs, not an insert as well, which wasn't an option for us, might be for you if you don't want to deal with hooking up the gas and have power in the area for $500 and under for the set, plus you install costs.

https://www.efireplacestore.com/dim-rlg25.html


Since it is just for looks, then gas logs with or without glass doors or the electric logs would be my choice.

O.D., I did that several years ago. While I miss the crackling of the fire and the aromatic benefit of actual wood, the modern gas logs have very realistic flames. The handiness of the remote start and stop makes the occasional fire very convenient.

My only question of concern is whether your fireplace logs and fireplace will be vented or unvented (mine is unvented). With the glass doors, I would think the heat would need an exit.

Now if one of our talented forum people would provide a source for fireplace sound effects and also a source for a faint odor of burning wood (hickory or apple), then I would be content.

quote:

Now if one of our talented forum people would provide a source for fireplace sound effects and also a source for a faint odor of burning wood (hickory or apple), then I would be content.

Alexa, play fireplace sounds......

We converted to gas logs last year and love it! Pinching back on the damper gives off a good amount of heat.

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
any form of heat output is not needed, just the look of a real fire

If you don't need/want the heat output, just strictly want the look of a fire, there are a number of options for electronic fake fireplaces that which would likely be cheaper in the long run than burning increasingly expensive natural gas just to have something to look at.

They're basically just a simple electronic screen that displays an image of a fire, either hung on or inset into the wall. Increasingly popular in new home constrution and remodels, where they want the option for the classic "living room fireplace" look without the expense or hassle of building in a real working gas/wood fireplace.

Like this:


There are also various apps and Youtube videos that you can put on your smart TV that will display a video image of a crackling fire, for free.

But personally, even if it's not the primary goal, the option of having backup heat output from a gas fireplace is quite handy. I've been through two winter storms that resulted in extended multi-day power losses, and having a gas fireplace and gas water heater came in clutch during those times, allowing me to have access to both heat as well as hot water despite having no power.

One big question that came up that I did not address ... always vented, only vented.

Just looking for the ease of having a gas log fire without the the work of firewood ... though I do have easy access to all the maple firewood that I could use for free, not counting to what I have on hand already.

I have a vented gas log fireplace. My relative's have an unvented one. The unvented one puts off a crazy amount of heat. So much so that in FL, it really doesn't get used. Our vented one with glass doors puts off almost no heat.

One catch though, with the price of propane, it can get expensive to run. I had not really used it since we moved into the house. Back in September or so I turned it on and really liked the ambiance. I ran it nearly every night while watching TV. At the end of the month the gas company came to fill up the tank. It was $250. I figured it costs a couple bucks an hour to run. I have cut back on the usage since then.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
The unvented one puts off a crazy amount of heat.

Yep, my unvented gas logs put out a lot of heat, even without a blower setup.

In non-emergency situations (e.g. not during an ice storm power outage), I keep it on the middle/halfway setting, and only run it for 10-20 minutes at a time. Typically first thing in the morning to take the chill off while I'm working on my first cup of coffee.

Otherwise, it'll quickly drive my ~65 degree living room up into the mid/upper 80s in less than an hour.

quote:

Originally posted by hurstolds1:
We converted to gas logs last year and love it! Pinching back on the damper gives off a good amount of heat.

I love what you did here ... and what the wife is interested in.

Please share more whether online or off line. What to know more about the logs you used and the gas plumbing. I am very, very able to do any and all the work.

The look of your gas logs is what we are looking for ! Beautiful .

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:

quote:

Originally posted by hurstolds1:
We converted to gas logs last year and love it! Pinching back on the damper gives off a good amount of heat.

I love what you did here ... and what the wife is interested in.

Please share more whether online or off line. What to know more about the logs you used and the gas plumbing. I am very, very able to do any and all the work.

The look of your gas logs is what we are looking for ! Beautiful .

Our wood burning fireplace already had a natural gas lighter. We purchased the kit locally. It is a very simply system, manual lighting with a shut off valve. It basically consists of a burner pan with a single gas burner tube which is placed beneath a bed of sand. The sand spreads the gas evenly throughout the burner pan to produce a full flame pattern. Rock wool embers are placed on the top of the sand to give it that real glowing amber look. The logs are painted refractory.

With the damper wide open it does generate a decent amount of heat. When I partially close the damper it heats the den nicely. The gas flame with the rock wool looks very much like a real wood burning fire. Based on our current gas prices it costs around 50 to 60 cents an hour to operate.
Let me know if you need anything else.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
We had a house in Tulsa with gas logs, nobody ever really used that room either, they do put off heat, and probably would be the least cost alternative, not sure what a plumber would charge to hook it up, and what codes you'd have to meet for safety.

Pros - gas is there, cuts install price providing the gas line that is there meets code, works etc.

Con - Cost depends on the logs, vented or ventless, remote, options... $500 to $2000 depending on what you want.. plus install. This dealer has lots of options, and a price calculator, might be helpful in starting your research.

I do need to look the codes up again ... as want to make sure everything is done to code. One part of the code that comes to mind is that the damper needs to be always open even when the logs are off.

I am comfortable working with the black iron gas pipes ( we have natural gas ) and have done so numerous times in the past with other projects such as running a line out to the deck for the natural gas bbq.

Oregon fuel gas code requires damper to blocked open. More than 6' houseline added will need tested and approved.

DO NOT go with a VENTLESS option!!!!!!!! My parents did and I swear if I had not stopped by they both would be dead! I came into the house and was immediately hit with a massive smell of noxious fumes. My parents were in the basement adjacent to the fireplace both complaining of headaches.

Get a very well insulated unit as the cost of running an inefficient unit will bleed you dry. We have a "builders grade" unit in my house and it SUCKS! I used it for 30min one day and our gas bill doubled. I understand not wanting to lug logs around or worry about gather up wood, etc. Get a high quality unit and you should be OK. However, since you have two fireplaces, I would definitely keep one wood burning for just in case. A wood burner saved my family's lives back when we had a blizzard in 1978...I slept by that fireplace for a week when I was little before our roads were open again.

I did the same set up Hurstolds1 did. Our wood burning fireplace had a gas log igniter so the switch to gas logs was very easy. My kit came with a "U" shaped steel clip that went on the existing damper to keep it cracked open about 1/2". The kit we used had a standing pilot light therefore the need to keep the damper cracked open when lit. I didn't like the idea of our normal room heat escaping up the flue when the fireplace was off so I always turned the log set off when not being used and fully closed the damper. The shut off valve was inside the fire box right where the black gas pipe entered the box. We ran ours with the glass doors both open and shut and seemed to get more radiant heat when they were shut.