Sand or no Sand

[c2000]

I bought an older house with a gas fireplace.. The fireplace has two sides to it with folding glass enclosures.On side faces the foyer and the other side the living room. You turn on the gas with a key outside the fireplace then inside there is a control knob that you use to turn on the pilot light and regulate the flame. There is no blower on the unit and the heat is passive or goes up the chimney. When using it I noticed that the flame was uneven on the logs and it did not look right. I removed the logs and found that there was a large amount of what looked like silica sand covering the burners and on top of the sand was bits of rock wool (these burned like cinders) I scraped the sand back then lit the burners and there was a nice even flame..My question is do you need those burners covered with the sand??
My other question is do I need to open the glass doors when using the fireplace because it does not have a blower . Or is OK to use with the doors shut and just the door vents open.?

Thanks for any help...Jerry in Minnesota.

 

[webbie]

Sounds like standard vented fireplace logs. You should definitely keep the doors open or the controls will overheat....and other possible problems.

The burner is probably designed to have the sand in it. However, it might be that your burner ports become clogged with moisture or soot/rust. I think you should cover it back up again, as that usually spreads out the flame and makes it look better.

If the logs are two sided, then both doors should remain open. If they are one sided, then one side would probably be OK.

You can get replacement sand and wool at any fireplace shop or online at various places.

As you have probably found out, these are not for heat...and, in fact, send a lot of heat from your house up the chimney. The idea is just to use them occasionally....sort of like Viagra....(romance).

 

[wg_bent]

The silica like stuff is likely mica. it will glow slightly when the flames touch it and look like burning embers. They're intended to make the flame uneven like a real fire, but they're not required.