Ask a stupid question...

[JeepGirl]

Have had a little disagreement with the spouse.. we have a propane log fireplace, converted from old wood burning, have the screen & glass doors. I say we can shut the doors while fireplace is on, spouse says they will shatter with the heat. Does anyone know if it is safe to shut the doors with the fireplace on?

 

[wg_bent]

I've had a wood fire shatter the glass doors on a fireplace. Those glass doors can take only about 450 degrees before catastrophic ( and I mean catastrophic!) failure. If the temp stays below that then I agree with you...if it gets much over 400 degrees...I agree with him.

I don't know if propane gets that hot, but if I were you I'd be careful. It happens to be one of the factors in why I installed an insert in my fireplace....I wanted fires and didn't trust the glass doors any more. A good friend of mine also had his doors shatter. In his case, he claims that there was only a smouldering log in the fireplace.

In my case I did have a rip roaring fire going.

 

[skypager]

Does anyone know if it is safe to shut the doors with the fireplace on?

Probably not. The issue with gas logs and closing the door is more related to the valve on the log set then the glass. It does have a rubber diaphram inside it and if it melts there would be nothing regulating the flow of gas to the burner. At the pressure that the gas would be flowing to the burner then would create quite the fireball.

The only gas log that I've seen that has been tested and approved to be burnt with the doors closed was Heat & Glo's Camp Fire Log (CFL). Reason being that the valve is under the burner and behind a "protective" log. That being said, I've never been real comfortable with closing the doors with them either.

As far as wood burning... Most quality doors can be closed when a wood fire is going as long as the door has a damper or some other provision to let air flow past them. However, if the fire has been going with the doors open for a while and then closed, there is a chance they will shatter. This most often will happen because of the suddend temperature change of the glass. If anyone wants to close the doors while a wood fire is going it is reccommended that they are closed half way first to slowly bring the glass up to temp, wait about ten minutes, and then close them fully. But keep in mind, their is no guarentee that the glass will not break under the extreme temps of a roaring fire. It is my personal reccomendation that the doors be closed only when the fire has been reduced to a bed of embers.

 

[buildafire]

I've also heard that temperature differential can cause the tempered glass to fail. If anywhere on the pane of glass one point is over 300 different in temperature from another point, the glass will fail. That could be caused if you have an air inlet on the glass door down low, or if you get a cold downdraft from wind. Also the older the glass doors, the more likely they are to break.

 

[webbie]

The answer is no- vented gas logs will overheat and destroy themselves - the gas and safety valves, unless lots of air is circulated around them.