Choosing Between Gas and Wood Burning Fireplaces

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

It’s hard to resist the appeal of of a crackling fire, but how do you pick between a gas or wood burning fireplace? There are many factors to consider when deciding how to make sure your home stays warm through those cold, winter months.

Aesthetics and Efficiency 

• Wood: A wood burning fireplace typically wins in the sensation category. You get the crackle. You get the pop. You get the ability to roast marshmallows indoors. Something you don’t get is an effective heating source. Wood fires normally 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 style advances in gas fireplaces. The flames have become more realistic and many models offer varied heights. The ceramic logs used in gas fireplaces now more closely resemble the real thing and come complete with flickering embers, which don’t force you to wait while they go out. You can merely switch your gas fireplace on and off which provides 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 achieve when you incorporate that with a fully maintained furnace. 

Air Quality and Maintenance

• Wood: Air quality is vital to every homeowner. Burning wood creates air pollution in and outside your home and the smoky wood smell that a wood burning fireplace exudes 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. Much like furnaces that should have furnace service completed consistantly, gas fireplaces also require consistant cleanings of cinders and spent logs.
  
  
• Gas: Gas fireplaces only require some dusting every now and then and are practically 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 efficiently.