Gas Fireplace

Inside a gas fireplace installation in Woodruff Springs

Rooms where a gas fireplace can be installed

Some rooms are off limits to gas appliances unless the installation meets an exception. Section 303.3 of the fuel gas code keeps appliances out of sleeping rooms, bathrooms and storage closets, except for a direct-vent appliance installed per its listing and the manufacturer's instructions, or a vented gas fireplace in a room that meets the code's volume criteria.

For a gas fireplace in a bedroom or a small room in your Woodruff Springs home, a direct-vent unit is usually the path, and we confirm the listing allows it before anything is ordered. The room is part of the free inspection.

What a new gas fireplace sits on

Under the unit, the base has to be solid. One direct-vent manual calls for a hard metal or wood surface that extends the full width and depth of the unit, and says never to set it directly on carpet, vinyl, tile or other combustible material apart from wood. A B-vent manual gives the same rule.

Raised hearths, built-in platforms and units set into cabinetry all need that base planned from the start. Our installers build it to the manual and level the unit on it before anything is connected in your Woodruff Springs home.

Hot surfaces, children and a new gas fireplace

Glass and metal surfaces stay hot for a while after the fireplace is turned off. One maker's manual asks for young children to be supervised in the same room, recommends a physical barrier where at-risk people live in the house and suggests an adjustable safety gate to keep toddlers away from hot surfaces.

If small children or older relatives live in your Woodruff Springs home, tell us at the free inspection. We plan the hearth, the barrier and the room layout with them in mind, and show everyone in the house how the barrier stays in place.

Carbon monoxide alarms with a new gas fireplace

The NFPA advises installing and maintaining carbon monoxide alarms and venting all fuel-burning equipment outside. One gas fireplace manual describes early carbon monoxide symptoms as flu-like, with headaches, dizziness and nausea, and says anyone who feels them should get fresh air at once and have the fireplace inspected.

A vented fireplace installed to its manual keeps exhaust outside, and an alarm is the backup. If an alarm sounds, get everyone out of your Woodruff Springs home and call 911 from outside. The fireplace stays off until it has been inspected and the cause found.