Do gel fuel fireplaces put out much heat compared to wood-burning or gas or are the strictly cosmetic?

Answer 1

i have one and they are mainly for looks unless you have a blower on it. They look and sound like a real fireplace and do give off some heat. They even crackle like a real one! But don't have it in a real small room. you could get a black soot build-up

Answer 2

the question should be how much USEFUL heat they put out.

a given amount of fuel will create a certain amount of heat. that can be measured. however, how much goes up the chimney and how much is useful to you is a much bigger, hard to quantify question. It will vary depending on the design of the stoves, how they are vented, and if there are any heat capture devices on the chimney.

that will also depend on other factors, with wood stoves especially, as to how the draft is used, and how good you are at building the fire in the first place. Any answer you get based on such little info will just be a guess.

Answer 3

Gel fuel comes in 13oz cans 1 can will generate about 3000 BTU's for about 2 to 3 hours, if you use 3 cans it will generate about 9000 BTU's, 1 can cost about $3.00, the answer to your ? is NO, but you will not need a chimney.

Answer 4

a BTU is the measure of heat, all heat is the same per BTU. The real question is which one is cheapest to burn. I don't like a specialized unit, because the manufacturer can raise the price of fuel when he wants to.