Would you like to experience the warmth and charm of a fireplace without disrupting your floor plan or making major changes to your house? Installing a gas fireplace might be the answer for you. The days when putting in a fireplace meant installing a new masonry chimney are gone. Today, lots of gas fireplaces can be installed just by making a small cut in and outside wall to allow for venting. On top of that, many gas fireplaces will actually increase your home's heating efficiency, unlike traditional styles, which create drafts.
Today's gas fireplaces are built for efficiency. Just like a gas furnace, a fireplace has a rating in terms of BTU. Look for models that have an Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (or AFUE) rating. This will tell you how efficient your particular model will be. The higher the rating, the greater the efficiency of the fireplace. Make sure that when you compare ratings on gas fireplaces, you're looking at numbers produced by the same scale, as they're also rated by their steady state efficiency, which is the efficiency while maintaining a constant temperature. This number is generally higher than the AFUE rating.
When you decide to install a gas fireplace, you have three basic options. Which you choose will depend on your home and the space you have. You can pick from fireplace inserts, vent free fireplace, and direct vent gas fireplaces. You can also choose to convert a gas fireplace to use propane, if you choose.
Fireplace inserts are a good choice if you already have an old wood burning fireplace. These fireplaces vent through the chimney via a special pipe which carries fumes outside. The inside firebox is surrounded by air, with another layer of metal outside to contain warmed air. Warmed air is send out into the room, with additional air being drawn through a second vent pipe, or from the room. Many fireplace inserts have a blower or fan to help the air circulate.
A direct vent fireplace omits the need for a chimney or flue. They vent fumes directly outside through an exterior wall. This keeps dangerous combustion byproducts and unused fuel from contaminating your home, and prevents household air from being used in the combustion process. A direct vent fireplace set up for sealed combustion is the most efficient option you can choose, since there are no drafts to remove heat from the home.
Vent free fireplaces also produce no drafts, but don't vent to the outside. They can be installed against any wall that has gas line access, or into a recess in the wall. The air for burning the fuel is drawn from the room. However, some people are worried about the air quality in rooms warmed by these fireplaces. Generally, the literature for these fireplaces states that they meet or exceed air quality guidelines, but some are concerned about the possibility for air contamination.
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