- Nov 27, 2012
- 0
Question:
We currently have a pre-fab fireplace in our house, which was built in 1987. It is situated in our living room which, unfortunately, has a cathedral ceiling. The past two winters we have burned wood to no avail, the heat seems to travel up the chimney or to the top of our 16 ft high ceiling! Unless we have the wood burning at "high blazes," it becomes very cold in the room (where we spend most of our time). We want to buy gas logs to provide warmth and a steady flow of heat, however, we have some questions:
1)if we get unvented logs, can we burn them longer than 3-5 hours a day, which some dealers have said is the MAXIMUM we should run it per day?
2)we have a four month old -- will unvented logs be harmful to our baby or nursing mom?
3)if we buy vented logs, leaving the damper cracked only about an inch, will that provide enough heat to our room and can we run that all day?
Answer:
1. You should not operate these logs as the primary heat in the room or home. The guidelines they gave are correct.
2. To a small degree...just like a bit of second degree smoke...in the worse case, logs put off as much CO as 1/2 of a cigarette...of course, you're not sucking on it, it's mixing with air in your home.
3. NO NO NO, vented logs require the damper to be fully open. There are some partial vent logs that allow the damper to be somewhat closed, but then a lot of heat is still lost.
I hate to spend your money, but it seems as if you should buy a gas fireplace insert. This provides heat, while venting the by-products up the flue. Costs much more, but I assume your family is worth it?
We currently have a pre-fab fireplace in our house, which was built in 1987. It is situated in our living room which, unfortunately, has a cathedral ceiling. The past two winters we have burned wood to no avail, the heat seems to travel up the chimney or to the top of our 16 ft high ceiling! Unless we have the wood burning at "high blazes," it becomes very cold in the room (where we spend most of our time). We want to buy gas logs to provide warmth and a steady flow of heat, however, we have some questions:
1)if we get unvented logs, can we burn them longer than 3-5 hours a day, which some dealers have said is the MAXIMUM we should run it per day?
2)we have a four month old -- will unvented logs be harmful to our baby or nursing mom?
3)if we buy vented logs, leaving the damper cracked only about an inch, will that provide enough heat to our room and can we run that all day?
Answer:
1. You should not operate these logs as the primary heat in the room or home. The guidelines they gave are correct.
2. To a small degree...just like a bit of second degree smoke...in the worse case, logs put off as much CO as 1/2 of a cigarette...of course, you're not sucking on it, it's mixing with air in your home.
3. NO NO NO, vented logs require the damper to be fully open. There are some partial vent logs that allow the damper to be somewhat closed, but then a lot of heat is still lost.
I hate to spend your money, but it seems as if you should buy a gas fireplace insert. This provides heat, while venting the by-products up the flue. Costs much more, but I assume your family is worth it?
