Any house does not look nice without a fireplace. Traditionally, these fireplaces used wood to generate heat. But, gas fireplace has become quite popular because gas fire could be installed they could be installed without making any major modification to your house.
There are three types of gas fireplaces available in the market. They are fireplace inserts, vent free fireplace, and direct vent . The choice would depend on your house and the space available to install such a fireplace.
Fireplace inserts would be the most natural choice when you are replacing an old wood burning fireplace with a gas fire. These gas fireplaces vent the gases through the chimney using a special pipe to carry the fumes to the outside.
In case of a direct vent gas fire, chimney or flue is not required for its installation. The fumes get exhausted through an exterior wall. The home is saved from the contamination of combustion byproducts and unused fuels in such an installation. Also the air from the room is used for the combustion process and produces no draft. Direct vent fireplaces are generally set up for sealed combustion and they are most efficient gas fires available.
Vent free fireplaces also do not produce any draft but they do not vent outside.
For installing a gas fire you obviously require a gas line to run it. Gas lines are very safe to operate when they are installed properly. But, sometimes, a simple malfunction of the gas line might cause a big fire. These gas fires are provided with special burners so that the level of carbon monoxide in the room is kept at a minimum level. But, sometimes, there might be a problem with the gas fire which may lead to higher level of carbon monoxide in the room. Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas and has no distinctive smell. Gas companies generally put a distinct smell with the gas so that the consumer would be able to detect it. Also, gas fires produce water vapor as output that escapes throughout the house. But, the quantity of water vapor is quite substantial in amount. This leads to the formation of fungus and molds inside the house. These fungus and molds could lead to sickness to the people in the house and gets deposited in hard to find areas of the house. Therefore, these areas would require inspection and proper treatment with chemicals for regular intervals.
Therefore, if you always keep these safety tips in your mind, you would be able to enjoy the warmth provided by the gas fire without any problem.