Can You Use Vented Gas Logs In A Ventless Fireplace
Despite producing far fewer fumes than vented gas fireplaces a small amount of fumes will still be emitted into your house.
Can you use vented gas logs in a ventless fireplace. Installing a fireplace can often be a major problem due to venting especially with retroactive installations. Ventless gas logs can be installed in just about any type of fireplace as long as the damper is closed. This is so that it can both take in air from the outside and then vent out the by products from the flames inside the fire box. Vented gas fireplaces are not as flexible as ventless gas fireplaces in order to install a vented gas fireplace you must use a chimney or an exterior wall.
Alternatively called unvented vent free or ventless this type of indoor fireplace pipes natural gas or propane into a gas unit with flames running through gaps in artificial ceramic fiber logs. This is not as flexible as a ventless gas fireplace. For example if the fireplace is a high efficiency wood burning unit a gas log set cannot be installed. The only exception to this is direct vent fireplaces which come with their own factory installed log set.
Vented logs create a large realistic fire with dancing flames. Unlike vented gas logs ventless gas logs do not need a chimney or flue to discard emissions. Ventless fireplaces are standalone structures that function off natural gas propane alcohol based gels or electricity but do not require a vent or open chimney flue to heat a room like. You can use ventless logs in a vented fireplace.
You certainly can still use a wood burning fireplace with a chimney but that is not the only way to do it. The basic concept is in the name a fireplace insert typically gas or propane burning that needs no ventilation. But the idea of a fire without smoke and a fireplace without ventilation tends to give people pause. Fireboxes that are flat and enclosed with no chimney must use a ventless log set.
Vented and vent free logs are both used in a gas fireplace but they act very differently. This is because the gas or propane insert creates no smoke just a flame and its subsequent heat. Vent free logs do not need a chimney but provide a smaller flame. So ventless gas log sets are also available for installation in homes without chimneys.
In most cases yes both vented and ventless gas logs can be installed in a fully functioning wood burning fireplace. Even though the chimney can remain closed you will still lose some of the efficiency and heat from using this type of set in a vented fireplace. There are some scenarios that will not allow for the installation of a gas log set in your fireplace. This type of fire requires a chimney for safety.