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Ed_The_Gypsy · 11-24-2006, 03:49 PM

We heat our house here in Bellingham exclusively with two natural gas-fired fireplace "inserts", a Regency downstairs and a Jotul upstairs. Propane conversion kits are available. Blowers send heated air into the room, but if we lose power, they still will burn and heat the room by air circulating by natural convection. They have ceramic 'logs' in their hearths that glow a little and tempered glass enclosures. Can't burn wood in them at all anymore. Each has a flue gas stack to the top of the chimney. One has a combustion air inlet that also goes to the top of the chimney. As far as the room is concerned, they are sealed. Very safe for CO leaks. They have remote control thermostats. Pretty neat.

We put modern double-pane windows in at the same time. We are quite comfortable.

If you go this way, be sure to size them properly. Estimate the heat load by the size of the area to be heated. Add a margin for cold air leaks.

Recommended.

We had gas logs in our fireplace in Houston, which retained the ability to burn wood. Fairly useless. Not recommended.

Ed

How do you like Ensenada? Well enough to buy a house there, I suppose. Any observations?

11-24-2006, 03:49 PM	#2
Ed_The_Gypsy Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Cowtown, Alberta Posts: 2,402	We heat our house here in Bellingham exclusively with two natural gas-fired fireplace "inserts", a Regency downstairs and a Jotul upstairs. Propane conversion kits are available. Blowers send heated air into the room, but if we lose power, they still will burn and heat the room by air circulating by natural convection. They have ceramic 'logs' in their hearths that glow a little and tempered glass enclosures. Can't burn wood in them at all anymore. Each has a flue gas stack to the top of the chimney. One has a combustion air inlet that also goes to the top of the chimney. As far as the room is concerned, they are sealed. Very safe for CO leaks. They have remote control thermostats. Pretty neat. We put modern double-pane windows in at the same time. We are quite comfortable. If you go this way, be sure to size them properly. Estimate the heat load by the size of the area to be heated. Add a margin for cold air leaks. Recommended. We had gas logs in our fireplace in Houston, which retained the ability to burn wood. Fairly useless. Not recommended. Ed How do you like Ensenada? Well enough to buy a house there, I suppose. Any observations? __________________ "Ain't got no money for no old-age pension; I'm so broke, I can't pay attention!"