Can you burn wood in a gas fireplace?

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

A friend asked me to find out If he can put wood in his gas fireplace because his gas bill is very high when he uses it, so he wants to put wood splits in it and keep the gas on low, what would
be the downsides of doing something like this, could it destroy the fake gas logs that he has, thanks for any and all help....

 

[fossil]

In all probability, the flue is not rated for a solid fuel-burning appliance, unless this is a gas installation in a masonry structure or something like that. If it's a pre-fab gas burning unit, he'd be well advised to figure out the manufacturer and model and do some research.

 

[BrotherBart]

No way. A wood fire on top of a gas pipe is in the dictionary under "Bomb".

 

[BrotherBart]

Fossil I read this as he wants to put splits on top of a gas log set.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

absolutely not! ! ! especially with the gas set still in the fireplace.

the downside could be a blown up house, at the very least he would likely ruin his gas set,not to mention as fossil said above the flue may not be rated for solid fuel, but leaving the gas set in there running on low is straight up deadly dangerous on several levels.

tell your friend to lose that thought as quickly as possible please!

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Will do for sure.... Thank you guys

 

[akbear]

if it was originally a gas fireplace, the answer would almost certainly be no as it's highly unlikely the unit was built to withstand the temperatures of a wood fire or be able to deal properly with the exhaust and it's heat.

if it was constructed as a standard fireplace with a gas set installed, other than the present condition of the fireplace and flue, it would depend on if any modifications were made to accommodate the gas set and almost certainly it's removal (there was a time that some people did install gas igniters into wood burning fireplace, but even that really just seems to be asking for trouble.

The safest simple answer of course is NO and only a truly qualified contractor or inspector could say what that set-up would need to make it safe for solid fuels.

 

[webbie]

Funny, but this was one of the first questions I answered on Hearth.com 18 years ago!

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/convert-gas-fireplace-to-wood-chimney-man-says-its-ok.99083/

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Very good, I can't believe I brought the big boss man out to help with this situation....Thank You....

 

[webby3650]

if it was originally a gas fireplace, the answer would almost certainly be no as it's highly unlikely the unit was built to withstand the temperatures of a wood fire or be able to deal properly with the exhaust and it's heat.

if it was constructed as a standard fireplace with a gas set installed, other than the present condition of the fireplace and flue, it would depend on if any modifications were made to accommodate the gas set and almost certainly it's removal (there was a time that some people did install gas igniters into wood burning fireplace, but even that really just seems to be asking for trouble.

The safest simple answer of course is NO and only a truly qualified contractor or inspector could say what that set-up would need to make it safe for solid fuels.

Gas log lighters are still very common. I have never heard of any issues associated with using a log lighter.

 

[webbie]

Might be true, but you won't find me burning 1500+ degree fires on top of a gas feeder pipe.


Call me superstitious in this case. I suppose if the shutoff is a few feet back the heat won't transfer, but I am still spooked.

 

[Sons924]

Baa boom!