Wood is good, but you can't beat the ease of a fire that lights with the push of a button. The experts at This Old House explain what it takes to put a gas-fueled hearth in your home
Wood-burning fireplaces provide great ambience, but they can't beat the easy, no-fuss efficiency of gas.
• You don't have to split, stack, season, or haul logs. • There are no ashes to bag, no smoky smells, no chimney to clean. • You can start, adjust, and snuff out fires with the touch of a remote control. • The fire needs no tending and won't die out from neglect. • A wall thermostat can control the flame size—and therefore heat output—to maintain a specific temperature setting in the room. • The fixed glass panels covering direct-vent fireboxes ensure that the furnace- or boiler-heated air in the rest of the house doesn't escape up the flue, as it does with a wood fire. • You can get as much as 75 to 99 percent of a fuel's energy back as heat, instead of the 10 to 30 percent for wood fires. • Gas fireplaces can go almost anywhere—in an upstairs bathroom, in a basement, or outdoors—without needing a chimney.
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