While each type of fireplace has its own advantages that may work better for your needs, if you just want something that's simple to use, not too expensive or tricky to maintain and provides a good amount of heat output, a gas-burning fireplace is your winner.
The walls and the back of a fireplace reflect heat into the room, and a fireplace with optimal angles will put out more heat. In general, a masonry fireplace will likely lose much of its heat as it gets sucked up through the flue.
Generally speaking, gas fireplaces can produce anywhere from 8,000-60,000 BTUs, and wood burning fireplaces range from 20,000-40,000 BTUs.
Direct vent gas fireplaces burn efficiently with up to 70 percent of the heat they generate remaining in the house. Direct vent gas technology allows gas fireplaces to install in virtually any room of the home at a fraction of the cost of a masonry fireplace. This makes them an ideal choice for zone heating.
Overall, gas fireplaces are highly efficient when it comes to heating a room. Once a fire has been burning for some time, it's likely to heat a room rather quickly. The type of gas fireplace you have is likely to affect the fireplace's ability to heat a room efficiently.
For more than 70 years Real Fyre has been creating the most beautiful gas fire products you can buy. We build gas fire logs so authentic looking, they're equally beautiful with or without a fire burning.
Check the damper in your fireplace to make sure that it's wide open to allow for maximum draw of air up the chimney, which in turn will increase the airflow to the fire. A damper is usually shut between fires to prevent the loss of warm air from your home.
Fireplace fans help to circulate warm air and increase heat penetration into the room. However, they do not increase the fireplace's total BTU output; instead, fireplace blowers simply move air more effectively to increase the amount of airflow around the fireplace and the entire room's ambient temperature.
Place the box fan on low, facing INTO the space where your fireplace is, blowing the cool air at the unit. This will cause a convection reaction and the hot air will be forced away from the burning unit.
The American Lung Association recommends choosing cleaner, less toxic sources of heat than burning wood when possible. Although efficient fireplaces and stoves that burn natural gas or propane eliminate exposure to some of the dangerous toxins wood burning generates, they rely on costly, unsustainable fossil fuels.
Providing a beautiful and realistic fire, vented-heater gas logs are made from ceramic fiber that glow and radiate heat.
Vented gas logs are best for customers that require only a small amount of radiant heat but like the appearance of a roaring fire. While vented gas logs will produce the most realistic flames, they can be quite inefficient in comparison to vent free logs.
Can a Fireplace Really Heat Your Home? Absolutely! And many houses already have a fireplace. It's just a matter of using it to bring some much-desired warmth into your home.
Wood-Burning Fireplaces
In fact, most of the warm air generated by wood fireplaces is released through your chimney. And because you have to leave your damper open for hours to let any remaining embers burn down, using a wood-burning fireplace can actually leave your home colder than it was before you even lit a fire.
Electric heaters and gas fireplaces both produce heat immediately once activated. However, gas fireplaces tend to be better than electric units for heating larger rooms because of their higher heating capacity. You may also feel gas heat more quickly than electric heat if you're standing further away in a room.
Your fireplace or stove, whether it's wood or gas, can be operated with or without an electric fan. Without a fan, you will get direct radiant heat from the glass and the cast iron or steel front of your fireplace.
Glass doors can double the efficiency rate; some experts estimate that glass doors triple the heat that enters the home. Rather than being blocked or contained in the fireplace, the heat from the fire radiates into the room through the glass doors.
The doors should always be fully open or fully closed. Glass doors should be fully open when starting a fire and when the fire is burning strongly. The glass doors should be closed as the fire dies down to minimize the amount of room air going up the fireplace chimney.
The cost of heating your home with gas (British Gas)
Gas is generally much the cheapest form of heating, but its cost depends on a number of factors, including your supplier, tariff and boiler.
Do firebacks really work? The effect of a fireback behind a fire is immediately tangible. A fire without a fireback hardly radiates any warmth, while a fire with a fireback very much does so. There is more radiation if the fireplace fireback is larger or thicker, and a thicker fireback retains heat longer.
Ventless fireplaces are more energy efficient than vented fireplaces because no heat escapes up the flue, so you'll save money on gas utility bills. A vented gas fireplace uses more gas to create the same level of warmth because some of its heat escapes through the flue.
A gas fireplace offers a range of benefits over burning wood in your home, including the ability to instantly turn on, control and turn of the heat from the fire. The advantages of having gas fireplace can outweigh the disadvantages in many scenarios, making a gas fireplace a worthwhile investment for your home.
Can I use Duraflame logs in my gas fireplace? No, using Duraflame logs in a gas fireplace is not safe and can cause damage to your fireplace. Only use the type of fuel that is recommended for your fireplace.
Vent-free or ventless gas fireplaces are a great choice if you are looking for the highest heating efficiency possible. Since they are not vented to the outside, all the heat produced is realized in the living space making them a superb supplemental heat source.