Gas Fireplace vs. Natural Fireplace?

[bobbiwoz]

We could only have a gas fireplace and we went with it. It does a good job of heating our small house in the winter. Our heat pump is really the back up. We keep the whole house fan on to distribute the heat.

We had only had wood fireplaces up to this time, and we agree this is easier. For us, it’s a substitute for what we prefer, but we do enjoy it, and we are happy we have something.

 

[easyas123]

In our current home (built about 4 years ago) we have a wood burning stove in the basement (finished, no other heat source), a regular fireplace in the sitting room upstairs, a gas fireplace in the living area of the in-law suite we have,AND a stone open fireplace outside. I have grown up with real fireplaces, and I LOVE them. I also have allergies & asthma and do fine with them. We heat with them quite a bit in the cold weather months. We are fortunate to have a unlimited supply of firewood if needed, and easy access to firewood if we want/need to buy it. In the winter we run the basement wood stove and it heats up the basement wonderfully, as well as the heat migrating upstairs. A few of my husbands family members have those outdoor wood-burning heaters, and rave about them.

Everyone home I've every owned (or lived in as a kid) has had a wood burning fireplace, and I grew up with a fire blazing almost nightly. Love them.

 

[tvguy]

Ever try to roast a marshmallow over a solar panel? The ambiance just isn't the same... I've never considered the fireplace a supplemental heat source, just a cosy feature. And AFAIK, nobody uses a log lighter for anything other than igniting the wood.

I can only imagine how angry my parents had been if I dripped melted marshmallow on the brick hearth!

 

[nkereina]

We built our home and opted for a gas fireplace. I had a wood burning one growing up.

When I was growing up, we lost power in our house for 10 days during the winter. At night, we would sleep in the living room with the fireplace burning and my dad would wake up every hour or so to add more wood from the garage. It was a huge pain and if we had a gas fireplace during that time, it would have stayed lit and warm consistently. We have lost power during the winter in my current house with a gas fireplace and as a PP mentions, it did a great job of keeping the family room area around 60-62 degrees until the power came back on.

As mentioned, the wood burning fireplace creates mess, clean-up, and smell. The ambiance and smell is worth it to some people, but not to us. We knew it would stop us from using it as often as we would want to if we went with a wood burning one. I also recall issues with critters in the chimney growing up and eventually my parents stopped using it all together.

With gas, it can be more expensive since it will impact your gas bill and also has parts that may need to be replaced. We have had minor issues with the igniter.

One tip I have is to make sure your thermostat is far away from whichever fireplace you decide on. Ours is in the same room and the room gets so warm, that the heat will not click on and then our upstairs becomes cold. Wouldn't be a problem if you have dual zone though. If you go with gas, make sure the fireplace has the option to switch on the flame only without the blower to throw the heat. For us, the fireplace often makes it too warm in the room so we have to turn it off. We wish we could leave just the flame on for effect and ambiance, but don't have that option.

 

[tvguy]

We built our home and opted for a gas fireplace. I had a wood burning one growing up.

When I was growing up, we lost power in our house for 10 days during the winter. At night, we would sleep in the living room with the fireplace burning and my dad would wake up every hour or so to add more wood from the garage. It was a huge pain and if we had a gas fireplace during that time, it would have stayed lit and warm consistently. We have lost power during the winter in my current house with a gas fireplace and as a PP mentions, it did a great job of keeping the family room area around 60-62 degrees until the power came back on.

As mentioned, the wood burning fireplace creates mess, clean-up, and smell. The ambiance and smell is worth it to some people, but not to us. We knew it would stop us from using it as often as we would want to if we went with a wood burning one. I also recall issues with critters in the chimney growing up and eventually my parents stopped using it all together.

With gas, it can be more expensive since it will impact your gas bill and also has parts that may need to be replaced. We have had minor issues with the igniter.

One tip I have is to make sure your thermostat is far away from whichever fireplace you decide on. Ours is in the same room and the room gets so warm, that the heat will not click on and then our upstairs becomes cold. Wouldn't be a problem if you have dual zone though. If you go with gas, make sure the fireplace has the option to switch on the flame only without the blower to throw the heat. For us, the fireplace often makes it too warm in the room so we have to turn it off. We wish we could leave just the flame on for effect and ambiance, but don't have that option.

We had that issue when we used our insert, dust that we were concerned would be an issue with our son's asthma.
Before we had kids, I worked overnights, and my wife wanted the bedroom at 80 degrees. We have a "U' shaped house with the fireplace on the left part of the U and the master bedroom on the other end of the U. To get the bedroom to 80, the family room was 105! And the air intake for the heater is on the far end of the U too, so turning just the fan on didn't do much to circulate the heat. I came home from work at 730 one morning on a 28 degree day, the house was 90, and our cat was on the tile entry way on his back trying to cool off!

 

[barkley]

we've had both and frankly i was not thrilled that our current home was going to be gas (love a real crackling fire) BUT i've grown to LOVE IT.

ours is plumbed to propane and the cost of fuel is nominal despite all i use it. it's not our primary source of heat UNLESS we have a power outage in which case it provides plenty of heat to keep the rooms around it warm. we do have a blower installed and it goes on automatically when the fireplace temp hits a certain level.

 

[neverlandsky]

I prefer gas due to allergies.

 

[ronandannette]

I can only imagine how angry my parents had been if I dripped melted marshmallow on the brick hearth!

Did you have Grandparents? They're the ones that find antics like this adorable!

 

[smokeyblue]

I'd choose gas.

• Less hassle; no sourcing wood or storing it. Turn on the fire with a flip of the switch.
• Cleaner. Burns clean, no need to remove ashes, don't need to sweep the chimney.
• Heats up a room much faster/more efficiently (my wood fireplace raises the temp no more than 1-2 degrees).
• Not having a chimney (just vending outside), this is a big one for me. My chimney is in poor repair and I can't even get anyone to look at fixing it because masons are a dying breed and the ones that are working are doing lucrative commercial projects. Every mason I've spoke with said to take my chimney down and put in a gas insert.

 

[JimMIA]

Wood. Real is real. Not is not.

 

[tvguy]

Did you have Grandparents? They're the ones that find antics like this adorable!

Sadly all of mine were deceased by the time I was born.

 

[clh2]

We had a wood fireplace in our previous 2 houses (total of 25 years). Our current house has a natural gas (3 years and counting)

I miss the crackle of the fire. I really do!

But-nothing beats the convenience of flipping the switch on (or off)! And as we hit our late 50’s, I love having a gas fireplace!

One thing I did not like about the gas fireplace, the blower was loud. We had a “thing” put in, so now the blower is adjustable. The thing was perhaps a rheostat. So my advice to you if you get a gas fireplace-make sure the blower is adjustable.

Also, it is recommended to have the logs adjusted, and the blower area to be cleaned periodically (about every other year).

 

[MrsPete]

I grew up in a house heated by wood stove, and I assure you that -- while lovely -- wood fires are a pain in numerous ways:

- We spent many nice fall weekends cutting, splitting, hauling, and stacking firewood. That's real work.
- Bringing wood in, sweeping up wood mess, and cleaning ashes out of the fireplace are never ending chores.
- Wood fires need about 30 minutes to really "heat up" and get some nice coals and some real warmth.
- I can't tell you how many times this happened: We'd plan to watch something on TV, so we'd put a big log on the fire and settle in ... only to realize it was a re-run ... but someone had to stay up 'til the log was burned down to a safe point.
- As someone said above, open wood burning fireplaces are not efficient; they actually suck warmth out of your house.

 

[tvguy]

I grew up in a house heated by wood stove, and I assure you that -- while lovely -- wood fires are a pain in numerous ways:

- We spent many nice fall weekends cutting, splitting, hauling, and stacking firewood. That's real work.
- Bringing wood in, sweeping up wood mess, and cleaning ashes out of the fireplace are never ending chores.
- Wood fires need about 30 minutes to really "heat up" and get some nice coals and some real warmth.
- I can't tell you how many times this happened: We'd plan to watch something on TV, so we'd put a big log on the fire and settle in ... only to realize it was a re-run ... but someone had to stay up 'til the log was burned down to a safe point.
- As someone said above, open wood burning fireplaces are not efficient; they actually suck warmth out of your house.

That's why we put our insert in. Much more efficient. I had to stack the wood and carry it in, but I bought a cord at a time split and ready to burn.
And everything was contained so you could go to bed and let the fire go.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

You all have such good answers, that we aren't any closer to choosing one!! Thank you so much for the good feedback though!!

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

Our house is 2400 Sq. Ft. We have a Heatilator wood burning fireplace with a gas burner so we can do either. We haven't put wood in it in over 10 years. The gas logs and lava rock look so real and the heat it puts out keeps our whole house nice and toasty.

 

[yesdnil]

We have a wood burning fireplace with a gas log lighter, which I think is the best of both worlds. Just place a couple logs on the grate, turn on the gas, wait about 5-10 minutes for the logs to catch, then turn off the gas and enjoy the fire. I don't have to bother with kindling or anything like that, and get to enjoy the crackle of a real fire.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I have a wood burning fireplace, but it hasn't been used more than two dozen times in the 28+ years I've lived here. Not used at all for at least 15 years.

I'm afraid to open the damper. A few dead squirrels and a raccoon might fall out.