Gas Fireplace Logs

JB4310 · Oct 27, 2011

I'm thinking of getting one for my formal living room.

More for effect than heating but it will be nice to feel it nice and warm in there when we want to hang out there. This room doesn't get used much (no TV) except in the colder months when we can't sit in our sun-room/porch.

There is a full masonry fireplace there now, but we're never in there long enough to make a wood fire, I do burn wood in another F/P in the family room.

Started looking at Cheap ones at Lowe's to start. I don't have natural gas so I would have to get a 100lb propane bottle min. all the ones I've seen are dual gas so that's not a problem. also since I have a masonry chimney I could go with the vented unit, though most I've seen are vent free. I do want one with a remote, some I've seen don't have one.

Anyone have any opinions on these gas logs? using propane? and vent free vs vented etc.????

Thanks, JB

ragkar · Oct 27, 2011

I've got vent free with remote propane logs. The remote is on/off and it's easier to just bend over and press the on switch on the log base as it is to find the remote.
There's some horror stories about propane suppliers on this site. Search for 'propane'.
Vented log flames lick the logs and are more realistic than the vent-free.

JB4310 · Oct 27, 2011

ragkar said:
I've got vent free with remote propane logs. The remote is on/off and it's easier to just bend over and press the on switch on the log base as it is to find the remote.
There's some horror stories about propane suppliers on this site. Search for 'propane'.
Vented log flames lick the logs and are more realistic than the vent-free.

Thanks, do you get any smells from burning propane vent less?

How long would a 100 lb tank last for occasional use?

JB

clemsonfor · Oct 27, 2011

JB4310 said:
Thanks, do you get any smells from burning propane vent less?

How long would a 100 lb tank last for occasional use?

JB

Vent free produce a huge amount of heat! You will not need any other heat source in the area or possibly your house depending upon the level you run a vent free set at. Of course if you have your chimney open and not in one designed for vent free you prolly wont notice it as much.

My dad has 3 sets of vent free logs and i never smell anything, just get dry heat. My cousin and his wife would burn through 200lbs in no time, claiming to only use it in the cold mournings. I think they were keeping it over 80 degrees in their modern house though, they have vent free. I think the man came every month. But personally if you have a set run on medium say a few times a week id think the 100lbs would last all winter? I dont know cause i had cheap gas logs in my masonry fireplace when i bought it. FIrst thing i did was rip them out and throw them away and start burning wood. I get it free, now i have a wood stove in there and there is no way i would burn gas when wood is basically free, you get as much heat and dont pay $5 or whatever a gallon. Even if you live in a city there are free sources of wood for occasional fires. You can burn construction debris, pallets or have a tree service drop wood they dont want or they may charge you a small fee to dump it as many split firewood to sell as well.

forgeblast · Oct 27, 2011

I have a jotul lp stove, vented. Love it, heat goes right where I want it, there is a remote for it and it looks like a woodburning fire.
Plus I didnt have to cut trees all summer long.

JB4310 · Oct 27, 2011

I have enough wood, heck around here the tree guys will give you all the premium hard wood you want in logs. I burn wood down in my man cave when I know I'll be down there for a while watching football etc.

I actually have a decent old good quality wood stove I could put in that living room F/P if I ever needed it, especially in an emergency.

But I just want to be able to go in there for short periods of time and enjoy the fire and warmth.

Went to a high end stove dealer today, they had several gas logs on display.
I'm still not sure which would be better for me, the vent free or vented.
The vented burns 2 times the fuel and gives off less heat, but has a very nice looking flame, the vent free has a smaller flame as they are limited to 40K btu. right now I'm leaning towards the vent free for it's better efficiency.
If it gets to hot I can always open the damper a little.
I Also learned I don't really need a remote, since I have glass doors that need to be opened when I use the gas log it's easy to just flip the switch, cost a little less and is simpler.

So I'm learning a little.

I need to find some mid price range units, this stove shop had high prices around $800.-1,200. Home Depot had some cheapos for $250.

JB

clemsonfor · Oct 27, 2011

Id still go wood, just leave the doors open and start a fire with some precut construction boards for kindling, and throw a few dry hunks on and instant low work fire. If your in there for a while just close doors and load her up! You may move the TV in there and the wife might want to stay in there for the warmth.

Edit: Heck i just realized you have a masonarry chimney. Just put wood in there and have a fire as is. But yea i know you want easy.

JB4310 · Oct 27, 2011

clemsonfor said:
Edit: Heck i just realized you have a masonarry chimney. Just put wood in there and have a fire as is. But yea i know you want easy.

It's not just easy but fast, sometimes maybe just long enough to enjoy a cup of coffee or read a newspaper.

JB

kenmac · Oct 27, 2011

Depends on what you want... Vent free= heat. vented= not so much heat. More like burning real wood without the mess. Propane or NG. they operate the same

JB4310 · Oct 27, 2011

kenmac said:
Depends on what you want... Vent free= heat. vented= not so much heat. More like burning real wood without the mess. Propane or NG. they operate the same

I'm leaning towards vent free, not cause I need the heat, I'm actually worried about to much heat, but I could at least open the damper a little if it puts out to much.

I saw the vented ones make a better/ bigger flame, but burn alot more gas.
The vent free ones made a decent flame with NG on high but someone told me the flame is not quite as nice with propane?

If I could figure out the usage at 45-50,000 btu's that the vented uses on low, if it was not gonna use a 100 pound tank in a week then I might look closer at the vented unit.

Anyone know how to figure the usage per hour at 50K btu's, how many hours I would get out of a 100 pound tank??

JB

Clint S · Oct 27, 2011

Vent free LP or NG heaters produce alot of water vapor. If you have a tight house this can be a problem, especially in the fall or spring when temps are down and humidity is not low like in the winter. Other than that they are the way to go

k0ua · Oct 27, 2011

Well lets see:

1 gallon of Propane ~= 4.23 lbs ~= 91500 Btus

1 lbs of Propane ~=22000 Btus

20 lb tank of propane holds approx 4 gallons of propane (approx 366000 BTUs)

So looks like you are going to use about 2 lbs per hour so 50 hours?
this jives with what I was told about the unvented 100,000 BTU logs, and asked the same question, and was told about a gallon per hour.
My observations, Vented logs look pretty, require full open vent in the fireplace, and produce almost no heat. ( oh sure if you put your butt right up next to it you can get warm) But will kill you if you close the vent down any at all. in a few minutes. You eyes will start to water in seconds. I gave them away. I now have unvented logs, they burn more blue, and if I run them for more than 2 hours my eyes start to water. I recommend (or at least in my experience) to open the vent a little bit and open a window a crack and then you can run them for hours. They produce much more heat. If the vent is closed completely they produce a lot of heat. The other thing they produce is lots and lots of water vapor. and CO2. If they are not burning correctly, by not having enough oxygen to work with then they produce more CO not CO2. They have an oxygen depletion sensor to shut off the gas valve if there is not enough oxygen for complete combustion and start producing CO (carbon monoxide). I would still recommend having a CO detector in the room anyway just in case. Overall the Unvented kind produce much more heat, but are not quite as pretty to look at. The vented kind produce no heat to speak of and are very realistic to view. Interestingly downstairs I have a 18000 BTU wall heater that heats ceramic plates with thousands of holes in them the gas flows thru. It produces a lot of heat, and no smell at all. There is no visible flame after a minute or two, just 3 glowing orange ceramic plates. Of course it produces the water vapor and the CO2 (carbon dioxide) also. CO2 by itself is not poison but can displace regular air so you need some air leakage to make sure it does not build up. Well I have rambled on enough. Good luck in your choices.

James K0UA

amaxwell · Oct 27, 2011

I would go with the vented.I have the vent free with propane ,and the smell is not bad if your in the house with it;but if it is on and you enter from outside it is quite strong until you are in with it for a while.My 100 gal tank gets filled only once per year.I do love just pushing the remote for a lovely fire.

JB4310 · Oct 27, 2011

Thanks Clint, James and Maxwell, especially for those usage calculations.

I have no experiance with gas burning home appliances, I don't even have a gas grill, actually I still have a grill just have not used it in 6 years since I rediscovered charcoal.

So I'm learning quickly, I guess I'm still leaning to vent free despite Maxwells warning. I'm thinking if I open my damper a couple inches I should be able to solve some of those issues related to the vent lees combustion ???

Like the smell, the excess water vapor, the C0 and C02 build up (I do have a C0 detector in that room) the need for make up air and the worry of it getting to hot in that room. The room is open on both ends and the stairs to the 2nd floor are close by. But with the vent-less I would still have the higher heating values if needed.

Does that sound like it's expecting to much just from leaving the damper open a little?

On a separate matter, there is a chance I could get NG to my house. It is right in front of my house, the gas company was gonna pay me $350. to bring a line up 120 feet to the house. if I would switch from oil to gas heat.
I wonder if they would do it just for a gas log? probably not but it's worth a phone call.

Thanks again, JB.

k0ua · Oct 27, 2011

Yep, I think you will be fine with the vent free. used wisely like you outlined. If it gets too hot for you, just open the vent all the way, and then it is just for looking not heating.

James K0UA

clemsonfor · Oct 28, 2011

My dad lives in ahome that is say 6 years old. Newer tighter construction, hopefully? Anyway on each of the 3 floors there is a vent free log set. His home is like 2500sqft total. He lives in charleston and is a kind of replica charleston, SC single house. For those who dont know they are really narrow when viewed from the street but longer than a normal house sometimes. They also have a porch on each floor on one long side of the home. The door to the street is at the end of the porch and you come onto the porch and then into the home from the porch in all cases. I think it was to give a summer porch to enjoy breezes but also to maximize homes on a street.

Anyway, my point is when i come into the house i smell no gas (uses NG). The point by me telling the location is so that you know there are mild winters with mabe only a few weeks of really cold mournings, but because he lives right on a river the mournings are a bit warmer due to the water. But most of the winter the only heat he even uses is the gas logs in say mourning but mostly in the evening. They heat the room up in 10 mins or so then the rest of a floor in an hour or 2.

TnWV · Oct 28, 2011

I installed a gas log in my fireplace last winter. I got one from lowes for $212 and believe it is 18000 btu and vent free. I have free natural gas on my property, but the log I bought can be used for both. I have no smell what so ever, but have no experience with propane other than the inlaws have a propane fireplace and I don't smell anything when I am at their house. Mine is now my primary heat ( bought it mostly to cut down on the electric bill and actually cut it down to one third what it was heating with all electric). This log puts our some serious heat and I definetly recommend it (cant remember the name). Mine did not come with a remote, but it does have the option sold separately.

clemsonfor · Oct 28, 2011

How do you have "free" natural gas?

PatasColo · Oct 28, 2011

clemsonfor said:
How do you have "free" natural gas?

Now, don't we all? Just can't figure out how he'd get it into the fireplace... safely. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

(Sorry, couldn't help myself... I'll go back to being an adult now.

)