Wood vs. gas fireplaces...?

Question

What are the pros and cons of EACH? We are moving into a house that has an older gas fireplace. Our inspector says he personally likes wood and we should convert it back. My husband also likes wood and thinks the point of a fireplace is to save on gas/electric bills. I agree with that, but I'd like to know the good and the bad about both gas and wood.
Thanks

Answer 1

I have a wood burning fireplace. My original thoughts were that I would go with wood burning because I wanted to use it to save money rather than lose money due to gas. The place that built my house put in a radiant wood burning fireplace. I've found out a few things since then. I'll list some of the options regarding fireplaces and pro's/cons.

Radiant Woodburning:
- Pros: best as far as appearance - real fire and easily visible
- Cons: lets cold air in during winter when not in use and can make the room smell a little, have some mess to clean up when you bring in the logs, can be a little hard to start, doesn't heat the room well

Woodburning with Blower:
- Pros: best for saving money if you have firewood available and does a great job of heating the room
- Cons: can't see the fire as well, it's encased by a metal door with glass in it due to the blower

Radiant Gas:
- Pros: easy to start, easy to see, no firewood mess, no smell, easy to view
- Cons: not real wood, expensive to heat with, doesn't heat the room well

Ventless Gas:
- Pros: very easy to start (just flick a switch), no firewood mess, no smell, very good at heating room, easy to view
- Cons: somewhat expensive to heat with but much more efficient than a radiant fireplace, glass door isn't meant to be opened often

If it was me, I'd either go with a wood fireplace that has a blower or a ventless gas fireplace.

Oh yeah, a few little notes if you get a wood fireplace, especially a radiant one. After you open the chimney flu and before you get ready to start the fire in the fireplace, I recommend opening an exterior door or window, especially if you have a well insulated home. If you don't the difference in air pressure between outside and inside your house can draw smoke into the room even with the flu vent open. Keep the window or door open until the fire gets going. After the heat from the starts going up the chimney and creates an air draft up the chimney then you can close the door or window without the worry of smoke filling the room. Also, it's good to leave a few ashes in the fireplace. The ashes are what hold the heat. And lastly, make sure to leave air void under your logs and some in between them. The air void allows oxygen to get to the fire when you are starting it and allows the fire to start easier.

Answer 2

Well, both the kind of fireplaces has some pros and cons, but if consider the major factors then there are few things in which we can compare both of the fireplaces:
Difficulty Level of Use: The gas fireplaces are easy to use while wood burning fireplaces require a lot more efforts. In these first you need to get some wood, then you need to arrange in a proper way and then start fire and maintenance. Gas fireplaces are really very good when you just want to warmth your home and want a fireplace to look at.
Fuel Cost: Here the advantage is for wood as you can buy wood from firewood or hardware store.
Maintenance: The wood fire is not a fun to clean, the dust, ash and burned out woods are cluttered and spread very easily while gas fireplaces are easy to maintain and they are to operate. There is no messy cleanup and now sweeping required. So in the term of maintenance gas fireplaces are advantageous.

Answer 3

Both wood burning fireplaces and gas log units need combustion to burn. They take it from the air in the home. both will provide some heat and comfort in the immediate area.

The difficulty is that the rest of the house will become cold when the fireplace is being used. A 100,000 btu furnace cannot keep up with the heat loss suffered so you are only heating a small portion of the house.

The only way to solve that is to have a direct vent gas fireplace insert installed. They are sealed units, have a special type glass front, are vented with two pipes. One pipe brings in outside air for combustion purposes and the other is your exhaust. Most gas inserts are rated about 80% AFUE and actually heat the house. Many are rated in the 32,000-40,000btu range.

Your homeowners insurance costs will be much higher with a wood burner.

I would recommend you locate some fireplace shoppes, (not a big box store, the help is not knowledgeable) and shop around.

Answer 4

We have a gas fireplace. It's nice, instant on, warms up in a minute. Instant off, don't have to worry about ashes.
Wood fireplaces deal with possible trouble lighting, maintaining the fire, CLEANING up the ashes.

With that said, we still would have liked a wood burning one. You can't beat the smell of burning wood, the crackle of the fire, and the ambience it creates. You also can get free wood from Craig's list, many people are cutting down trees and just want to get rid of the wood.