Gas Fireplace
Gas log sets for Forest City fireplaces
Same-day visits for a free gas log inspection are available in Forest City when the schedule allows.
Vented and vent-free sets are different appliances
A vented set burns with the damper open and sends its exhaust up the chimney, like a wood fire. A vent-free set burns in the room and relies on an oxygen depletion sensor to shut it off if room air runs short. The fuel gas code places them under different standards and different rules. A vented set leaves much of its heat going up the chimney, while a vent-free set keeps its heat and its combustion products in the room.
Some burner systems are listed for both uses and installed to the section of the manual that matches the use chosen. We explain what each option would require of your fireplace and your room, and we put the requirements for the one you choose in the written quote.
Where a vent-free set is allowed
Vent-free sets carry room rules. The Florida fuel gas code keeps gas appliances out of bedrooms and bathrooms except in narrow cases, caps an unvented room heater at 40,000 Btu per hour and limits the total input of unvented appliances to 20 Btu per hour for each cubic foot of the room. One maker's vent-free manual also keeps units above 10,000 Btu per hour out of bedrooms and above 6,000 out of bathrooms.
We measure the room and compare it with the set's input before recommending a vent-free option. If the room is too small for the set you like, we tell you and suggest what would fit. The measurement goes into the written quote, so you can see how the chosen set compares with the limit for that room.
Nothing extra on the burner
Decorations belong off the burner. One maker's vent-free manual forbids placing logs, wood chips, pine cones or vermiculite on the appliance, because they cause improper burning, soot and high levels of carbon monoxide. Decorative granules or glass go on the fireplace floor in front of and beside the burner, away from the controls.
Ember material follows the manual too. Old embers come out before new ones go in, and replacements come from the original maker. We set the ember bed to the instructions and tell you what may and may not be added later. Keeping the burner clear is what lets the set burn as cleanly on its hundredth evening as on its first.
Hot logs and hot glass
Gas logs and the surfaces around them stay hot for some time after the flame goes out. One maker's manual asks that children and adults be warned about hot surfaces and that anyone repositioning a log use heat-resistant gloves or wait until it has cooled. The glass doors, the screen and the fireplace face around the opening can also stay warm well after the fire is off.
We point out the surfaces that get hot and the safe way to reach the controls. Homes with small children may want a sturdy screen or safety gate in front of the fireplace, and we can suggest where it should sit.
