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Coming from the Northeast we are accustomed to wood buring fireplaces. We have noticed that most homes in NC offer gas log fireplaces. We would love to hear some opinions on the pros and cons of both. We are aware of the maintenance of a wood burning fireplaces, but we love the smell of a burning fire. Have any of you converted your fireplaces from gas to wood burning? Is it expensive? Is it legal and safe? I thought I heard that you can make them more energy efficent with an insert of some kind. We'd just love to get some feedback on the subject. TIA
I have a wood-burning fireplace and I, too love the smell and feel of a 'real' fireplace. The problem is that I usually hesitate to have a fire because I don't like to leave my house if I have a fire going. I also don't like having to clean the ashes, etc. out! Most of the homes with wood-burning fireplaces are older homes.
I have considered having gas logs installed for the reason mentioned above but I have also had a number of people tell me that the cost of running the gas logs is pretty high.
We have a wood burning fireplace. We haven't used it much this winter though. I'd like to use it again. I have a couple cords of wood ready to be fed into its hungry maw.
Yes many older (20+ years) homes have wood burning fireplaces.
I have one in my apartment and I love it. I personally prefer the smell and feel of a wood fire over a gas fire. However as [b]Charlotteborn[/B ]said gas fireplaces are easy operate and maintain.
I have a gas one and it is easy to operate but doesn't heat worth a damn. I also noticed a significant jump in my gas bill during the times when I tried it.
Coming from the Northeast we are accustomed to wood buring fireplaces. We have noticed that most homes in NC offer gas log fireplaces. We would love to hear some opinions on the pros and cons of both. We are aware of the maintenance of a wood burning fireplaces, but we love the smell of a burning fire. Have any of you converted your fireplaces from gas to wood burning? Is it expensive? Is it legal and safe? I thought I heard that you can make them more energy efficent with an insert of some kind. We'd just love to get some feedback on the subject. TIA
Until about 15-20 years ago, almost all homes built here that had a fireplace had the traditional all brick wood burning fire place. This is an expensive item and once the mass production builders moved into Charlotte, they switched to inserts to cut costs. It was an easy way for the builder to shave $3000-$5000 off the cost of building a home and most people are so clueless, they didn't know the difference. The builders knew the buyers would only see the pretty granite facade and nice mantle slapped on front of the cheap replacement for the real thing. At first the inserts still had a real chimney and burned wood. However over the last decade the mass production builders switched to even cheaper through the wall venting and gas logs. Gas log inserts don't generate the heat of real wood and thus can be made even cheaper. You will find these things even on homes costing 1/2 million dollars.
To answer your question, you will need to stick to older homes, which you should do anyway to avoid financial calamity. If you buy a newer home with one of these gas inserts, it can't be converted to wood without incurring a pretty heavy expense as basically the entire thing will need to be ripped out and a new fireplace installed. If you go with a full brick traditional fireplace on a rebuild, expect to pay $5000+ for it. Unfortunately the construction of a brick fireplace that will draw properly is a dying art and you might not be able to easily find anyone who will even do it for you. Despite this, and if you really want to build a new home, some of the builders will offer the option to put a real all brick fireplace on the home.
Last edited by LazarusLong; 12-28-2010 at 07:06 AM..
Our 35 year old home in Western Pa had a traditional wood burning fireplace lined with firebrick, full chimney, flue , etc, but not really the greatest for warming anything beside the room it was in. We purchased a cast iron insert with a "fire glass" viewing window and most importantly an attached blower. While not as aesthetically pleasing, the thing could heat the entire first floor. Very little ash residual. I suspect being from the northeast you are aware of this. Our gas fireplace here is worthless, the pilot lite is off and I would like to remove it. It seems in our development, the only use for the fireplace is to hang a flat-screen TV above it.
I grew up with a "real" wood burning fireplace and now have a gas fireplace in our new home. When I purchased I was aware that gas fireplaces are decorative, not functional. We turn it on a few cold mornings and on holidays, etc. We like the way it looks- we didn't purchase it for "heat". Yes, it is expensive, but I am glad I don't have the maintenance of a wood fire place. We don't use it often (but we didn't use our wood burning fireplace regularly either) so- for a a nice appeal over the winter holidays I think it is fine.
Until about 15-20 years ago, almost all homes built here that had a fireplace had the traditional all brick wood burning fire place. This is an expensive item and once the mass production builders moved into Charlotte, they switched to inserts to cut costs. It was an easy way for the builder to shave $3000-$5000 off the cost of building a home and most people are so clueless, they didn't know the difference. The builders knew the buyers would only see the pretty granite facade and nice mantle slapped on front of the cheap replacement for the real thing. At first the inserts still had a real chimney and burned wood. However over the last decade the mass production builders switched to even cheaper through the wall venting and gas logs. Gas log inserts don't generate the heat of real wood and thus can be made even cheaper. You will find these things even on homes costing 1/2 million dollars.
To answer your question, you will need to stick to older homes, which you should do anyway to avoid financial calamity. If you buy a newer home with one of these gas inserts, it can't be converted to wood without incurring a pretty heavy expense as basically the entire thing will need to be ripped out and a new fireplace installed. If you go with a full brick traditional fireplace on a rebuild, expect to pay $5000+ for it. Unfortunately the construction of a brick fireplace that will draw properly is a dying art and you might not be able to easily find anyone who will even do it for you. Despite this, and if you really want to build a new home, some of the builders will offer the option to put a real all brick fireplace on the home.
I assume that you can install a wood burning stove more easily?
We have one at the moment and even though it's not a newer energy efficient one and doesn't have a fan it kicks out a heck of a lot of heat and we only use the central heat for about half an hour first thing in the morning.
Our house is on the market and most homes we're looking at have gas fireplaces.
Have got so used to our stove and the savings we make with it I wouldn't like to be without one now!
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