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Gas logs are decorative appliances, and are not sold as a significant source of heat. If you want to think about an alternative that will help to efficiently heat your home, we urge you to consider an airtight gas insert, which is a completely self-contained heating appliance.
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There are two other points remember when comparing an insert to a gas log. With the insert you are also getting a finished front for your fireplace - to get a comparable look with a gas log, you would have to buy a glass door as well. Secondly, with a gas log, you must leave your damper partially open at all times (even when you are not using the logs, because the pilot fumes must be vented). With an insert, there is no permanent opening to the outdoors. So there's no chance for insects, animals, or cold air to get into your house when you're not looking!
An insert installs directly into your existing prefabricated or masonry fireplace. It utilizes your existing flue as a chamber through which to run two small pipes - one for the exhaust fumes, and one for combustion air intake. An insert takes NO combustion air - which yoiu have already paid to heat - from your house. Since it is about 80% efficient, it is really a furnace that just happens to look great, as well as being a source of zoned heat that lets you put the heat where you ARE - not in the rest of the house where you may not need it. And, it will operate without any electricity - so if an ice storm knocks out your power, your insert will be a backup source of heat to protect the pipes in your home from freezing - while keeping YOU warm and toasty. That definitely beats having to move your family to a motel - if you can find one!
BUT HERE'S THE REALLY GOOD NEWS: Compared to a gas log, which might cost a dollar an hour or more to operate, an insert doesn't really cost ANYTHING to run. Why is that?
During the winter, your furnace runs to keep your house warm - and it burns gas to do that. Gas logs also burn gas, but they do not put significant heat in to your home - in certain situations, if your fireplace has a very strong draft, gas logs can actually remove heat, if you factor in the loss of heated inside air used for combustion. An insert is as efficient as most furnaces, so to the extent that you are heating your house anyway, with an insert you're just doing it with a second furnace. Your gas bill will be the same whether you heat your home with your primary furnace, or with the furnace in combination with your insert. And since the insert gives you the opportunity for zoned heat, the two appliances together are a more efficient heating team than your furnace would be running by itself.
Now let's say that you burn your gas logs for 350 hours over the course of the winter. You could easily save $400 per year in the cost of gas by using an insert instead. In five or six years, you will have paid for the higher initial cost of the insert. Plus, you'll have a backup system to heat your house if you lose power, and a better looking fireplace to boot!
Finally, how about unvented gas logs? While the initial cost is less than an insert, they do have significant drawbacks. They do put some products of combustion into your home, so anyone with respiratory or heart issues should avoid them. The smell is unpleasant to some people. And since the unvented burner is combusting the air in your house, anything that is IN that air, like cooking smells, paint smells, new carpet odors, or other solvents, will be recycled into your home. Sometimes these smells can become embedded in the logs and continue to produce unpleasant odors for a long time. Additionally, care must be taken that the logs are not jostled or rearranged, as this can lead to soot spillage.
When you add up the pluses and minuses, we think you will agree that if you are looking for an efficient source of heat, a sealed, gas insert is your very best option. Please visit with one of our sales associates for further information.
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