Fuel - Fire At Your Fingertips
In recent years, gas burning hearth products have become the most popular category. Thanks to significant product innovations and the low gas prices, over 70% of all hearth products now burn gas.
Easy, safe and efficient, gas appliances have convenient optional features that allow you to have a beautiful fire at the touch of a switch, thermostat or even a remote control. All gas stoves, fireplaces, inserts and logs can burn either natural gas or propane (LP). As with their wood counterparts, they are designed to either provide aesthetics or to produce heat.
Gas hearth products are characterized by how they are vented. Natural draft stoves, fireplaces and inserts vent free products of combustion outside the home using an inexpensive ("Class B") pipe similar to that used on furnaces or gas-fired water heaters. As with a conventional wood stove or fireplace, the pipe goes vertically through the roof. Natural draft units are tested and listed as either decorative or heater-rated units.
Direct vent stoves, fireplaces and fireplace inserts vent in a revolutionary new way. They do not need a full chimney terminating through the roof, so installation costs are lower. Because they can vent directly through the wall, this new technology is great for apartments and condominiums or unusual applications such as under a window.
Direct vent units are also especially attractive in tightly insulated homes. By pulling air for the fire from outside the home and exhausting the burned gasses through the same vent system, the combustion process is completely sealed from the living area. This eliminates concerns about indoor air quality and results in a balanced burn that is not effected by fans or other drafts. Most direct vent units are very efficient and are rated as "heaters" by testing agencies and regulatory authorities.
