Wood Burning vs. Natural Gas Fireplaces
After growing up with wood burning fireplaces, I was surprised to learn that natural gas fireplaces are the cheaper, cleaner, and more energy-efficient option. If you have a wood burning fireplace with a gas starter, consider making the change to natural gas.
Reasons to Stop Burning Wood
Here are some reasons why you should stop burning wood:
- It isn’t good for the earth. Wood burning emits a lot of soot – which is also called black carbon. Black carbon in the atmosphere absorbs about 2/3 the solar heat of carbon dioxide.
- Embers can start fires. Wood fires can release embers from the fireplace, that can hurt people and cause fires. This is especially hazardous outdoors, where embers from wood fires can easily cause wildfires.
- Soot can start chimney fires. Wood fires create build-up in the chimney, which can ignite and cause house fires.
- Wood smoke pollution is carcinogenic. It also causes respiratory ailments. Children are more susceptible than adults.
Benefits of Natural Gas Fireplaces
After switching to natural gas, I am enjoying benefits I hadn’t considered before:
- Gas fireplaces need no maintenance. No more annual chimney sweeping (about $150 per year), and no more sweeping and vacuuming ash from the firebox.
- No more buying and storing firewood. We didn’t use the fireplace often because we didn’t want to buy and store large amounts of wood in our garage. If we did keep a fire in the fireplace for special occasions, we easily spent $20/day on firewood.
- Very low operating costs. Professionally-installed gas fireplaces are very efficient. According to the company that installed my system, Sweep’s Luck, my fireplace costs about 19 cents an hour to operate.
- Gas fireplaces emit A LOT of heat. Most fireplaces in Southern California are decorative – they aren’t supposed to warm your home. Gas logs, on the other hand, emit heat by design We can now use our gas fireplace to warm our living room if we don’t want to heat the entire house.
- No more odor. My living room used to have a smoky smell for at least a day after every wood fire. Now it always smells clean.
- No more dangerous embers. As soon as you turn off the gas, the fire goes out. That means you can enjoy a roaring fireplace until the moment you leave the room. There are no hot embers slowly cooling off in the firebox. And I’m no longer worried about an errant ember blowing onto my living room floor.
How to Switch from a Wood Burning to Natural Gas Fireplace
Rule #1: Amazon Won’t Sell You a Realistic Gas Fireplace
When I first decided to switch to a natural gas fireplace, I made the mistake of simply buying gas logs and embers from Amazon, and using my existing gas starter. Yeah, so that didn’t work. Without the proper gas nozzle, there weren’t many flames. The gas logs also looked cheap and fake.
Hire a Professional Gas Fireplace Company
A professional gas fireplace company will install a system that will look like a real fire. First, they will remove the gas starter and install a burner pipe that disperses the gas to create a natural-looking fire. Then they will install a combination of ceramic-fiber logs and glowing embers. They will arrange the logs and embers to enhance air flow and allow the fire to burn brightly.
Cost to Switch to a Natural Gas Fireplace
The cost of an installation depends in part on the size and type of logs you choose. I paid an extra $50 to have gas logs that glow when they heat up, for a more realistic effect. The prices from Sweep’s Luck were about $500-$750 for a new system. I paid about $650 total for the installation.
But What About the Crackling Fire?
My biggest concern from the beginning was losing the sound of a crackling fire. But after learning that wood smoke really is toxic, and dirty, and wasteful, I knew I had to make the switch. Now I don’t even want to burn wood when I’m camping! Propane fire rings are cleaner and safer anyway.
As soon as we fired up the system for the first time, I decided it was worth it. It’s clean, maintenance-free, and I can enjoy a roaring fire whenever I want. I just shut off the gas valve whenever I’m ready to leave the room. It heats up the room, so it’s cozier than when I was burning wood. I’ll never go back!
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Any questions about natural gas fireplaces or other ways to improve your home’s efficiency? Contact me anytime.
