ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602280020
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Hints for Homeowners
SOURCE: STEVE ELDER
Tired of schlepping heavy, dirty logs from behind the garage to your fireplace? Fed up with hauling ashes out over your white Angora carpet with the six-inch pile? Maybe gas logs are the answer, but you hesitate to switch from a wood-burning fireplace because you remember your Aunt Millie's horrid fake fireplace with the lightbulb behind a revolving cylinder of red cellophane. Not to worry, for today's gas logs are very realistic in appearance.
Molded in ceramic, with a rockwool bed to simulate burning embers, they bear little resemblance to their ancestors. And the overwhelming appeal of the gas-log fireplace remains that, as T.E. Lawrence explained when asked why he loved the desert, ``It's clean.'' However, before you rush out to purchase the kit that will free you from soot forever, you might want to consider your range of options. As in real estate, the primary question is location, location, location: that is, where will you have the logs installed? Will you be using an existing wood-burning fireplace, or do you have your heart set on watching the flicker of gas flames instead of that drab inner wall in the den?
Gas logs come in either vented or unvented versions, with a variety of choices in each of these two main categories. (Whether vented or unvented, they are available for either natural gas or propane.)
If you have an existing wood-burning fireplace and cost is a factor, you will probably want the vented version. It consists of a grate, the logs themselves, the burner, the ember kit and a damper stop. The logs are available as simulated oak, pine or driftwood, so you can tailor the look to the room or suit your personal preference.
A more expensive variety of vented gas logs comes as an insert. This is actually a self-contained unit that slips into an existing fireplace just like a wood stove insert. It has double-wall construction, which permits air to be drawn in through the bottom grate, circulate around the heated sides and back and exit into the room out the top grate. With a few useful additions, such as a blower fan and a wall thermostat, these units function well as a heat source for an entire room. If you want to be really decadent you can get a remote control for your gas fireplace so you can sashay into the room, grab the remote and, Click! Instant atmosphere! If you don't have an existing fireplace flue, you can buy a unit designed to vent directly through the outside wall of your house.
If you want to locate your gas fireplace on an inside wall, in a basement recreation room or some other place where building a flue chase would be complicated or prohibitively expensive, then look into the unvented version.
With any kind of fuel-burning heat source in a closed room, of course, the standard challenge to be met is oxygen depletion. As the fire depletes the oxygen, the risk of carbon monoxide increases. In fact, during the late '70s the manufacture of vent-free gas space heaters was briefly banned until the introduction in this country of the oxygen-depletion sensor. This device, which had been used in Europe for years, will shut the heater off if the oxygen content in the room drops from the normal level of 20.9 percent to below 19 percent. According to data gathered by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, not one single carbon-monoxide death has occurred from the use of a vent-free gas space-heating product equipped with the oxygen- depletion sensor since its introduction. Vent-free gas fireplaces approved by the American Gas Association have been required to have this feature since 1992 and now make up more than half the market.
Vent-free gas logs are available as a gas-log kit, for use in an existing fireplace; a gas-log insert; a free-standing gas-log fireplace; or a ``zero-clearance'' gas-log fireplace. The latter package includes a wood or wood-like mantle and can be installed flush against a wall.
Additional factors to think about before you set up your clean fireplace are how to get it installed and where to make your purchase. I do not consider gas-log installation a do-it-yourself project. Most nonprofessionals, however talented, do not have the equipment or regulatory knowledge needed for working with gas pipe. My strong recommendation is that you hire a plumber or heating contractor licensed in gas work to do the job, with a permit. I also advise purchasing gas-log equipment from an established local distributor of plumbing and heating products, as opposed to a mail order or discount warehouse. You will have a much better opportunity to discuss your needs thoroughly if you deal with someone who is knowledgable about the product and all the options available.
Finally, if your home was built in the last 10 years or so, it is apt to be considerably tighter than older construction. If you choose a vented gas-log unit, you will probably need to open a window in the fireplace room just a crack, to provide some make-up air for combustion and draft, just as you would do with a wood-burning fireplace.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 linesby CNB