[mkmensinger]

A guy was on his first parachute jump. As he fell, he pulled the cord and nothing happened. As he continued to fall, he saw another man flying up from the ground. He called: “Do you know anything about parachutes?” The other man responded: “No. Do you know anything about gas fireplaces?”

[Krankor]

Close your eyes whenever you light it.

[Tijeras_Slim]

All the heat goes up the flue.

That swine flue...

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

I switched to firecrystals and have been happy with the heat output, no clean up, and modern look. Not for everyone, but do you own research.

[Texas56]

We’ve had a gas fireplace (dual opening for living room and kitchen) for 15 years. We have been very satisfied with it.

Depending on which room is to be heated, I will close the other side of the fireplace to make sure the heat goes into the room to be heated. We usually have the flue open.

The fireplace keeps the room warm enough that the heater is not used much if we are staying in that particular room.

[lilycicero]

What about installing a blower? We had a gas log fireplace “just for looks”....it did warm up the lower level which made the thermostat detect that it was warm in the house. (didn’t have a front that opened) We moved and the new owners requested that we install a grounding unit from the gas line to an outside rod 8ft into the ground. (Some BS if lightning storms)
House we are in now is older, converted fireplace to gas log. Inspector said to partially clamp the flue open when using. I have always believed a fireplace will take heat out of a house, but like another poster said, ‘they are pretty’.

[spectre]

Our gas logs put out more heat than wood. (The Flue must be open BTW) Ceramic logs put out heat and you can adjust the flame as well.

You should be looking at Home Depot or Lowes for less costly gas logs.

sw

[wrench]

All of these products are intended to be used as a system. Components are all engineered to work together. If you start mix and matching different systems (vented flue with ventless heater, etc.) you may get yourself into trouble.

The best advice I can come up with is settle on one product and install everything that product’s manufacturer requires, make sure it is done to your local code and is signed off by an inspector.

Houses burn to the ground every year from heating related problems.

[South40]

I've been a masonry contractor for 27 years and have designed and built countless fireplaces in that time. I have naver been an advocate of gas for anything other than lighting real logs. Real logs burn hottest and thus will produce the most heat. Heatalators or metal box inserts into the masonry surrounding are common and are required in many states. They also have the added benefit of blowers.

As I stated above, you will obtain the highest heat output with real logs. Second would be vented logs. Third and far down the list are the unvented logs. In my opinion they're for aesthetic purposes only.

[Dick Bachert]

Those gas log units are virtually useless as a heat source. They are decorative mainly for “atmosphere.”