Choosing Between Gas and Wood Burning Fireplaces

A fireplace adds personality and value to your home. When a person imagines their perfect home, the house typically includes a cozy home that keeps you and your family warm in the winter, either with a smoothly running heating unit or snuggling around a cozy fire.

It’s hard to resist the allure of of a crackling fire, but how do you pick between a gas or wood burning fireplace? There are many aspects to consider when deciding how to heat your home.

Aesthetics and Efficiency 

• Wood: A wood burning fireplace typically wins in the sensory category. You get the crackle. You get the pop. You get the opportunity to roast marshmallows indoors. Something you don’t get is an efficient heating source. Wood fires typically receive up to a 15% efficiency rating, much lower than a furnace that has regular service performed. They do get very hot, but most of that heat disappears up the chimney. Wood burning fireplaces not only lose the heat coming from the fire, but it also pulls warm air from other parts of the home up and out the chimney.
  
  
• Gas: There have been many aesthetic advances in gas fireplaces. The flames have become more realistic and many models offer varied height adjustments. The types of logs used in gas fireplaces now have the look of the real thing and come complete with glimmering embers, which don’t need you to wait while they burn out. You can merely switch your gas fireplace on and off, giving you more control over the temperature of you home and frees you from having to keep an eye on your fire. The lack of fire stealing oxygen gives gas fireplaces a 75% to 99% efficiency rating. Just imagine the level of comfort you could get when you pair that with a well-maintained furnace. 

Air Quality and Maintenance

• Wood: Air quality is critical to all homeowners. Burning wood produces air pollution in and outside your family’s home and the smoky wood smell that a wood burning fireplace gives off could be hazardous to your family’s. Wood also creates a byproduct called creosote that lines the coating of the chimney and must be removed by a professional chimney sweep. Much like furnaces that should have furnace service completed consistantly, gas fireplaces also require consistant cleanings of cinders and spent logs.
  
  
• Gas: Gas fireplaces require a little bit of dusting every now and then and are just about maintenance free. It is suggested that you get your gas fireplace cleaned and adjusted once a year by a professional to keep it running both safely and smoothly.