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A Few Words About Vent-Free

At first glance, it may appear that Vent-Free is the ideal way to go about selecting a Gas Fireplace, Stove or Logs, but in our experience with them, we've found Vent-Free technology to be detrimental to the appearance of the flame, the logs and give an overall false-looking atmosphere.

Since Vent-Free vents 100% into the house, it also relies 100% on the house for combustion air. If the house is tightly constructed or has ventilation problems, or if the house already has appliances that exhaust household air (i.e. stove range exhaust hoods, bathroom fans, central air), then the vent-free unit may not operate properly. There may be unnecessary flame shutdowns or pilot outages. Water is a byproduct of combustion. A 30,000 BTU unit produces approximately one gallon of water every three hours. Since vent-free exhausts into the home, this water could condense on windows and on/or inside of walls.

If there is any dust, lint or pet hairs in the air around the fireplace, the vent-free unit will draw it into the combustion chamber and recycle it back into the room. The (possible) burning materials plus the odor of burning raw gas contribute to undesirable smells inside the home and deteriorate the indoor air quality.  People sensitive to such odors should never install a vent free gas appliance.  In addition, if vent free units malfunction, they will emit soot into the room, which is very difficult to remove.

For these reasons, we no longer sell vent free gas appliances.  Our experienced technicians at Brassworks will always find a way to install a vented unit, which will present none of these type of problems.
 

 

UNVENTED LOGS

Look at these vent-free logsets.  Notice lack of embers or very little embers?  See how perfectly clean those logs are?  The vented sets get charred up and blackened, like real wood.  Unlike the vented set, shown below, notice how the flames are very restricted and controlled - not exactly what a wood fire should look like!  Sometimes folks will argue that these give more heat, but do you really need that heat?  Most vent-free sets go into existing homes that have operated fine with their existing heat systems for years.  When you think about it, do you burn a wood fire to get heat or for aestethics? 

VENTED LOGS

Now notice how free and full the flame is in this vented gas logset.  The flames are able to come
in contact with any part of the logs and therefore are closer to the characteristics of a real wood-burning fire!
The ember bed is full and vibrant, glowing and changing.  The logs are more realistically designed
and simulate a real wood fire!

Brassworks - fine home details
379 Charles Street, Providence, RI 02904
Tel. 401-421-5815
Fax 401-421-4238
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