Choosing Between Gas and Wood Burning Fireplaces 

A fireplace adds character and value to your home. When homebuyers imagine their dream house, the house typically includes a cozy home that keeps you and your family warm in the winter, either with a smoothly running furnace or gathering around a cozy fire. 

It’s hard to resist the temptation of of a warm fire, but how do you choose between a gas or wood burning fireplace? There are many points to consider when deciding how to heat your home. 

Aesthetics and Efficiency  

• Wood: A wood burning fireplace typically wins in the experience category. You get the crackle. You get the pop. You get the opportunity to roast marshmallows indoors. Something you don’t get is an efficient heating source. Wood fires usually receive up to a 15% efficiency rating, a lot lower than a furnace that has consistent service performed. They do reach high temperatures, but most of that heat is lost up the chimney. Wood burning fireplaces not only lose the heat coming from the fire, but it also pulls warm air from other parts of the house up the chimney. 
• Gas: There have been many artistic advances in gas fireplaces. The flames have become more realistic and many designs offer different adjustments in height. The ceramic logs used in gas fireplaces now more closely favor the real thing and come complete with glimmering embers, which don’t require you to wait while they burn out. You can merely switch your gas fireplace on and off, providing you more control over the temperature of you home and frees you from having to look after your fire. The lack of fire stealing oxygen gives gas fireplaces a 75% to 99% efficiency rating. Just imagine the level of comfort you could achieve when you pair that with a well-maintained furnace.  

Air Quality and Maintenance 

• Wood: Air quality is important to homeowners and homebuyers. Burning wood generates air pollution in and outside your family’s home and the smoky wood aroma that a wood burning fireplace gives off could be hazardous to your health. Wood also creates a byproduct called creosote that lines the coating of the chimney and must be removed by an expert. Much like furnaces that should have furnace service completed regularly, gas fireplaces also require recurrent cleanings of embers and spent logs. 
• Gas: Gas fireplaces only require some dusting every now and then and are just about maintenance free. It is recommended that you get your gas fireplace cleaned and adjusted every 12 months by a specialist to keep it running both safely and smoothly. 

If you are wanting to find out more information about converting your wood burning fireplace into a gas fireplace or you simply want to schedule seasonal furnace service, please call today at 226-773-3357 or schedule an appointment through our website. Our experts will have you cozied up and comfortably warm in no time.