What is the difference between a gas log fireplace and a wood burning fireplace?

I am going to give you as complete of an answer as possible since it sounds like installation cost, cost for fuel use, looks, and heat generation are all issues you want addressed.

Vented Gas Logs: These are essentially the cheapest and worst of the gas log variety. Their origin is from the 70's and they tend to be inefficient and expensive to run. Essentially they are a wood burning fireplace complete with chimney and have a burner that sits under a rack with ceramic logs. They are very low maintenance and do not need regular chimney cleaning but a chimney inspection every few years is advisable.

The worst thing about them is most building codes dictate that the damper has to be blocked open or disabled 24/7 on a vented gas log, so they do not accidentally back-up poisonous fumes into the house. This feature alone makes them ridiculously inefficient. You can use a Chimney Balloon in the flue when you are not using the gas log to stop the cold air from rushing down the chimney into your home.

To make matters worse they are inefficient at generating heat (sending most of it up the flue) and if you don’t have glass doors it will also suck in and waste your already heated interior air that your poor furnace had to work hard to heat. I don’t sell these in my shop & I don’t recommend them.

Cost for install = $500-$800

Fuel and heat efficiency = 1 star (terrible)

Looks = 4 stars (nice flickery flame)

Vent Free Gas Logs: These are units very similar to the other style in looks, but with some very important changes. Vent free gas logs do not need a chimney (or shouldn’t anyway) and they put all the heat they produce into the room.

Unfortunately, they also put all the fumes they produce into the room so they do effect your indoor air quality. It is kind of funny that the manufacturers of these units say "oh, the vent free units just put a little moisture into your homes air and a teeny weenie bit of fumes." then in the next breath they say "Vent free gas logs are not designed to be a home heating device and they should be used in a ventilated area". Bottom line is...if you burn a fossil fuel you get fumes that are bad for you and it is not healthy to put those straight into your living area. Bottom line is they are good at creating heat and ambiance but bad for your indoor air quality.

Cost for install = $500-$800

Fuel and heat efficiency = 4 star (good, but with dangers)

Looks = 4 stars (nice flickery flame)

Wood Burning Fireplace: It sounds like you are already familiar with these. They are inefficient at generating heat since they tend to draw in more heated interior air than they return to the room. Most open wood fireplaces have dampers but they can be leaky even when closed and used properly so a chimney balloon is an alternative to use as an efficient damper. The chimney needs periodic cleaning and inspection.

They can be converted into gas log fireplaces if you have propane or natural gas service that can be run to the hearth.

Cost for install = usually built with the house but can cost $2K-$10K to add onto an existing home.

Fuel and heat efficiency = 1 star (terrible)

Looks = 5 stars (nice flickery flame)

*Note* You can of course add glass doors, outside air ports, heat exchangers/blowers to any of the above units, and these will help the efficiency in some cases. However, they are by design inefficient units.

Gas Direct Vent Fireplace: These are closed combustion units. You cannot open the glass and get to the fake logs. They are very efficient at generating heat, but do not look very realistic. these can be used to heat a home or at least a zone of the home. They do not have a chimney but rather vent directly through the wall with small PVC pipes.

Cost for install = $1000-$2000

Fuel and heat efficiency = 4 stars (quite good at 70% efficiency or better)

Looks = 2 stars (stove like blue flame, not flickery)

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RE:

What is the difference between a gas log fireplace and a wood burning fireplace?

I am looking at homes to buy and I want a fireplace. I am not familiar with a gas log fireplace but fairly familiar with a wood burning fireplace. What is the difference between the two different fireplaces? Also, what are the advantages and disadvantages between the two? I don't have tons of...

Gas log fireplaces have "fake" logs which absorb/radiate heat and glow, simulating wood logs. They burn natural gas which is piped into the fireplace. The advantages are that they're cleaner; no ashes to clean-up, no bringing logs into the house, no woodpile storage outside, no stray embers burning holes in your carpet or wood floors. They're easier to light; just turn on the gas valve and ignite it.

Gas log fireplaces obviously don't have the aroma and crackling sound some people enjoy with a wood-burning fire.

When burning a natural gas log fireplace, there is a continuous flow of gas feeding the fire, which raises your gas utility bill. Firewood is expensive too, though (especially if you buy it already split and aged and pay for delivery), so you have to weigh-out the cost of operating each type.

There are also gas-fired wood burning fireplaces, where the gas supply assists in getting the fire going by adding fuel to the flame until the wood is sufficiently burning, at which point the gas valve is turned off. These types of fireplaces can be easily converted to gas log fireplaces with the installation of the log kit (a couple hundred bucks).

I have experience with wood burning stoves, wood burning fireplaces and gas log fireplaces. You can't beat the heat that comes from a wood burning stove. But the maintenance is a pain. The next best is the gas log fireplace. They are more efficient than a wood burning fireplace and generate more heat. There is no maintenance, other than replacing the "embers", which I haven't had to do, yet. The wood burning fireplace is dirty, pulls heat out of the house right up the chimney and is downright dangerous, as far as I'm concerned.

Good luck.

1

A gas log fireplace is when you have fake logs that are hooked up to a gas jet. You just flip a switch and the logs light up. It looks like a wood fire but it's not. It gives off heat and there is very little mess. You gas bill can be expensive if you use them alot.

With a wood burning fireplace, you will burn real wood. A gas fireplace needs a gas hook-up and then all you do is flip the button or remote and you have fire. The gas logs are permanent. I find wood burning fireplaces to be a huge hassle. You need to buy wood to burn, learn how to start a fire and properly extinguish a fire You need to clean out the ashes often and do proper maintenance on the chimney so it doesn't have a creosote build-up which is dangerous. With gas, no maintenance or additional costs. We burn ours nightly with no dent in our gas bill.

If you are looking to add gas logs to your woodburning fireplace, check your local HVAC contractor for kits or try looking around online, Lennox Hearth and Home, Superior. Usually gas fire places have knock-outs on the ceramic sides of the fireplace.

A gas fireplace is just that, they may call it "gas logs". It's just a fireplace that runs off of gas, it doesn't actually burn anything. The advantage of a gas fireplace is that since it doesn't burn anything-there are no fumes, or smoke. You do have to pay for the gas though, its just like turning on a stove top.

Depending on usage, a gas fueled fire place could cost more because of how it works, they work just like a gas stove.

How Do Gas Logs Work