Converting Wood Burning to gas fireplace (Chicago: Home Depot, stores, garage)

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I was reading recently that an EPA-certified wood-burning stove is one of the more "green" ways you can heat your home. They were quite common with people who lived on the rural fringe of where I grew up.

The sorts of "stoves" that are most efficient have an essentially "sealed" combustion chamber that only allows a finite amount of air into the process and funnels all the smoke through a kind of catalytic converter to extract maximum heat / reduce noxious compounds. In the process, all "snap, crackle and pop" is eliminated and at best you get a sort of "oven window" into the dull glow of "burning" as opposed to the "look, sound and smell" of an open fireplace...

[Lookout Kid]

Some people just like to burn stuff. I have an outdoor fire pit for the times that I feel this urge.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Some people just like to burn stuff. I have an outdoor fire pit for the times that I feel this urge.

[Bellamouse]

Heh heh, heh heh....

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by Bellamouse

Can I ask a dumb question? It is a sincere one. Why would you want to convert to a fake looking gas fireplace? I think real wood would be soooo much nicer? I would be wanting to convert to a natural fireplace if my house had gas/fake logs. Please help me understand why people do this (I never had a fireplace except when I was a kid and I don't have much memory of it, so this is the reason for my ignorance).

I was searching for a thread on gas logs and didn't realize I was on the Chicago forum, but I've been wondering exactly the same thing.

Twice I've rented homes with gas logs. If you're sensitive to odors, you can often smell gas since the pilot burns continuously. If the fireplace was wood burning, then much of the heat goes up the chimney anyway, since it's important to keep the damper open. I rented a home in NC last year and had to leave after a week. I'm not 100% positive, but I'm pretty sure that home had unvented gas logs. The only advantage was that they heated up the entire home in only a few minutes, but I kept getting a bad headache from the odor. The owners said they never smelled anything, but I couldn't stay there. I did my own research and found several articles about gas logs and vented vs unvented. This one proves it was not my imagination.
[url=http://www.macgregorplumbing.com/component/k2/item/2-vented-gas-logs-vs-ventless-gas-logs]Vented Gas Logs vs. Ventless Gas Logs[/url]
I realize they're more convenient, but I would never convert a wood burning fireplace to gas logs.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by justNancy

I was searching for a thread on gas logs and didn't realize I was on the Chicago forum, but I've been wondering exactly the same thing.

Twice I've rented homes with gas logs. If you're sensitive to odors, you can often smell gas since the pilot burns continuously. If the fireplace was wood burning, then much of the heat goes up the chimney anyway, since it's important to keep the damper open. I rented a home in NC last year and had to leave after a week. I'm not 100% positive, but I'm pretty sure that home had unvented gas logs. The only advantage was that they heated up the entire home in only a few minutes, but I kept getting a bad headache from the odor. The owners said they never smelled anything, but I couldn't stay there. I did my own research and found several articles about gas logs and vented vs unvented. This one proves it was not my imagination.
Vented Gas Logs vs. Ventless Gas Logs
I realize they're more convenient, but I would never convert a wood burning fireplace to gas logs.

They don't all have pilot lights, just the ones with automatic start. My fireplace requires that I open the chimney damper and manually light the gas with a flame source (I use one of those long Bic lighters). I have never once experienced any gas odor. If you have converted a wood-burning fireplace, you automatically have the "vented" variety since you are utilizing an existing chimney to vent the exhaust.

We have a ceramic conductor in ours that absorbs the heat from the gas flame and radiates a lot of warmth. The downside is that our chimney has a very strong draw, so while we heat the room with the fireplace quite nicely, the draw of the chimney creates negative air pressure in our house and sucks cold air in from the outside in to the rooms away from the fireplace. But this would also be a problem with burning wood, so we can't blame it on the gas system.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

They don't all have pilot lights, just the ones with automatic start.

Interesting. Good to know. So does this mean if the pilot is turned off, no gas will be entering the home? (sorry if this is a stupid question)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by justNancy

Interesting. Good to know. So does this mean if the pilot is turned off, no gas will be entering the home? (sorry if this is a stupid question)

I have a long key that I use to turn on the gas. So I open the damper first, hold the lighter in the correct spot, then turn on the gas, and poof--we have a fire. Then I turn off the gas to extinguish the flame when I'm done.

[BrianHunter]

when i bought my current house it had a wood burner that had been converted to gas log (I had wood burner at previous house). I just couldnt get into the gas log so I converted back to wood burner. i burn a couple chords a year. I love burning wood. I use the fireplace at least 5 days a week in the fall/winter. mine uses gas to get logs going.

Its all personal preference.

[Peer79]

Originally Posted by justNancy

I was searching for a thread on gas logs and didn't realize I was on the Chicago forum, but I've been wondering exactly the same thing.

Twice I've rented homes with gas logs. If you're sensitive to odors, you can often smell gas since the pilot burns continuously. If the fireplace was wood burning, then much of the heat goes up the chimney anyway, since it's important to keep the damper open. I rented a home in NC last year and had to leave after a week. I'm not 100% positive, but I'm pretty sure that home had unvented gas logs. The only advantage was that they heated up the entire home in only a few minutes, but I kept getting a bad headache from the odor. The owners said they never smelled anything, but I couldn't stay there. I did my own research and found several articles about gas logs and vented vs unvented. This one proves it was not my imagination.
Vented Gas Logs vs. Ventless Gas Logs
I realize they're more convenient, but I would never convert a wood burning fireplace to gas logs.

I think you're confusing wood burning and gas fireplaces with vented and unvented fireplaces. I don't think the gas smell is often a problem, but rather the unvented fireplace you describe. These are called ventless or vent free, and basically they do not vent the combustion odors and byproducts to the outside. This will often lead to sickness and headaches. They are not recommended by most fireplace stores or installers. The advantage is that they can be placed almost anywhere due to the fact that there is no chimney or vent.

Do a google search of vent free gas fireplace and numerous articles will pop up.