Heating, Cooling & Comfort - Choose a Product

Great progress has been made in gas fireplace technology over the past decade. Depending on your situation and personal preferences, you may have three choices:

• Gas fireplace inserts are meant to be installed in an existing fireplace cavity, to convert a wood-burning fireplace to use natural gas or propane. With this technology, the existing chimney must be relined with an approved vent.
• Factory-built gas fireplaces - also known as zero clearance units - are installed when there is no existing fireplace, typically during new home construction or as part of a renovation project.
• Free-standing fireplaces resemble wood-burning stoves. All surfaces are exposed, so these fireplaces tend to be more effective in supplying heat to a home.

Whatever design you choose, it should be installed by a heating professional. And you'll want to pay close attention to how the fireplace is vented. It's both a safety and an energy efficiency issue.