Building a fireplace (ventless) question...

[tman1020]

Just to be clear I am not nor was I before recommending you modify your propane fire box in anyway. Was just simply stating that you could get a properly rated propane gas log to fit in a wood burning fireplace. They are not expensive. Please make sure whatever you do is safe.

 

[Egon]

Consider an electric fire place that simulates flame and has a sound tape with it. No heat but should look nice.

 

[txdon]

Consider an electric fire place that simulates flame and has a sound tape with it. No heat but should look nice.

Just load you wife up with cheap wine to complete the ambiance.

Really, just buy your wife a new house, with an appropriate ambiance enhancer, you will eventually anyway.:thumbsup:

 

[s219]

That fireplace should have an installation guide that tells you how it can be mounted, what clearances are required, what materials are required, etc. You should consult that, as it would have the *only* information that matters.

 

[dave1949]

We have a Home | J jotul. This is a direct vent and looks like a wood stove. They sell the inserts.
I love the stove we have. It has a battery thermostat, when the power goes out we still have heat. It looks like a wood stove and yet no smoke and no mess.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/213935-rustic-fireplace-mantle.html is the post I did about our mantle.
woops this is the full post http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/252940-mantle.html?highlight=mantle

I think those gas stoves in a free-standing wood stove copy are nice units. They provide radiant heat and no need to hear a fan humming--plus the power outage issue solved.

I looked at the gas fireplace options for the condo my Mom lives in. It was originally built in 1996 with a gas log set in a metal firebox that was made to look like a wood fireplace, sort of. Unfortunately they used a gas vent flue that went up a chimney enclosure through the roof rather than the much better through the wall vent and intake. The gas igniter was toast and no parts available for the no-name condo-contractor quality POS. The open flue up the chimney enclosure was a constant source of cold drafts in the winter.

Being a condo, modifying the chimney was out, as was installing a through the wall flue and intake. In the end I sealed up the gas flue, insulated the framing around that seal, took out the gas fire box and installed an electric unit. Not what I would have chosen for a regular home but it cured the cold drafts and makes a little heat to set by.

 

[jwstewar]

Here are a couple of pictures from when we built the house. This is our vent free propane "fireplace." We then installed the stand and logs into the box. This was built from the get go as vent less. It sticks out into the garage a bit so it doesn't come out into the room. Our house is about 3100 sq ft. and laid out kinda strange, but when we lost power during an ice storm a few years back, this fire place kept our upstairs hot (it is in our living room on the first floor that is off the foyer with a 4' door but the foyer is open to the second floor) and most of the first floor warm enough that you were cool, but not freezing. Now the living room, that was another story, it was so warm in there you didn't stay in there for more than a few minutes.

 

[timswi]

The fireplace at my parent's house was converted to ventless natural gas logs years ago. They throw off a ton of heat and a slight odor. They never tripped the Co2 detector. However, the gameroom where the logs were located was finished and contained a drop ceiling. The excess amount of moisture outputted by the logs damaged the gridwork and started to cause some of the drywall nails to rust..So be cognizant of that risk if you intend to use the ventless logs a lot. Personally, I'd go vented for the moisture reasons anyway.

 

[gringo]

Richard,
You need to be very cautious with all fireplace installations, but particularly so with a ventless type. The obvious reason is due to the dangers associated with combustion gases being present if the unit is not installed correctly. All ventless fireplaces I have seen are UL listed assemblies, meaning that they are an engineered system designed and tested to operate safely when installed per the manufacturers installation guidelines. I'm not saying that you can't come up with a home built ventless design that absolutely won't work, but when it comes to life safety, saving a few bucks just isn't worth it. Simply installing a burner with ceramic logs doesn't qualify as a ventless fireplace. The burners on ventless units are designed differently to increase combustion efficiency up to 99%. Standard gas burners for logs burn much less efficiently creating combustion gases and are designed to be installed in vented applications. I would recommend finding a good UL listed ventless unit to fit your application.

 

[Spindifferent]

It dumps a ton of moisture into the home and smells awful. You just don't know it smells because you get used to it.

Have one, and we can't stand the smell. Anyone have any advice on minimizing the smell other than opening windows for ventilation?

 

[tman1020]

Remove it and replace it with a wood stove if u can. We did and I'm glad I did. Now my heat bill goes down when I use it instead of up.