Gas Fireplace Guidance

[big zeke]

We are considering some renos, one of which is replacing our existing wood fireplace with one of those gas jobs, the house is a 2 story and the existing chimney is about 25' high. We already have a nat gas log lighter in place. How big a job am I looking at? I know I can't do the gasfitting myself but is there any part I can safely do without burning my house down. Wild guesses on pricing (material and/or installation) are appreciated as well.

I prefer the smell of burning wood but the boss is concerned with sparks burning the carpet and hot fireplace doors burning the kids (she's a bit of a worrywart).

Any input is appreciated.
Zeke

[CaberTosser]

There are also wood burning fireplaces designed as inserts to your masonry job. They provide sealed combustion and better heat output to open hearth units. Kind of a win/win so far as wood beauty, but no sparks unless you leave the door open. Check out local fireplace shops, I was fairly uninformed on the subject until the last few weeks myself. The only mild drawback is that these ones (so far as I've seen) don't allow use of a log lighter as the sealed firebox has no such accommodation for a gas line. I ran one to mine, but no huge loss of money there as I'm a gasfitter.

I'm sure no parents would want their child burned by the fireplace, but if it happens, it's hopefully not major; and it's a safe bet Jr would be more
careful from there on. Worldproof the child, cuz we all k kw childproofing the world is 't gonna happen. ( I'm sure you're on board that I'm not criticizing anyones parenting; but mom needs to worry less )

[big zeke]

Bump

Any input is appreciated...hate to make a mistake here

[denpacc]

Personally I find gas fire places more dangerous for children. With wood they have to fall into the actual fire place, with gas all they have to do is touch the glass. But hey, I've learned that the fire caused by arguing with the wife can sometimes be the most dangerous fire of all!

[winged1]

The wife just had an insert installed and it came in at just under 5K. I'm a tightwad, and do virtually all aspects of reno, but won't touch combustion, even though I maintained Stelco's reheat furnaces years ago.

[Justanotherbuck2]

We used to install Napoleon inserts but because of companies like Mr Fireplace,Timberwolf..etc the margins for profit are not worth it for me to do them. I like the convenience gas has to offer and that as of two years ago the efficiency has to be minimum 80 % on secondary gas equipment. A permit is required to install one so if you live in a major centre..Ie Calgary or Edmonton you won't be able to pull your permit. In the rural or smaller communities under provincial regulations you could pull a homeowners permit. As these are safety vent kits you will remove your damper from the wood chimney using it as a chase for the two three inch flexible chimney liners to go into this can be pretty tricky to attach to your new insert and then slide into your old firebox, the vents need to be sealed with heat caulking where they attach to the fireplace, the gasline can be attached with a fireplace flex..manufactured valve on one end and a Flared connection on the other. On the roof you will attach the manufactures outside termination fitting. and seal the old chimney around it. If you can read and follow instructions carefully it's not rocket science. Soap out your gasline to make sure you have no leaks. It is crucial that your log set be placed exactly as the manufactures design specs and diagram show this ensures the proper burn and the right amount of impingement occurs for a safe and decorative flame. I would recommend that you have someone like the above mentioned companies do it for you, you will likely even have a hard time buying one in Alberta because the wholesale distributors won't sell you one without proof of a gasfitters ticket. But trust me after thirty years doing this where theres a will theres a way, and there are some retail company's out there that its more about the sale then the safety. The whole process of installing an insert used to take about four hours and what ever travel time might be involved. Some models of insets have fan kits that have to be hardwired and others just have a cord you can plug into a nearby receptacle. The really nice thing about a gas fireplace is even when the power goes out, you still have it to heat your home as it uses a pilot generator to produce its own electricity to operate its millivolt controls, of course you won't have the fan but what the hell that just optional anyways.