Heating, Cooling & Comfort - Choose a Products

Tips for Using Your Gas Fireplace Safely and Efficiently

It pays to be an informed consumer. By knowing what to look for in an energy-efficient gas fireplace, you can select a model that will not only suit your home's decor, contribute to its heating needs and give you peace of mind, but also save you money for years to come.

The fireplace's CSA P.4.1 rating should be your quick reference point for energy efficiency. But other features can help you judge whether a gas fireplace is energy-efficient: Here's what to look for:

• Direct-vent design. Remember, this is your best option from both a safety and energy efficiency perspective.
• An intermittent or automatic electronic ignition system. In many gas fireplaces, a pilot light is used to ignite the main burner when the fireplace is turned on - but the pilot light itself can consume as much as half the gas used by your fireplace every year! Consider a fireplace that has an automatic starter, which eliminates the need for a continuous pilot light. At the very least, buy a model that offers a simple method for shutting off and relighting the pilot.
• A ceramic glass front. Ceramic glass does a much better job of transmitting infrared heat from the flame to the room than the alternative - tempered glass. Ceramic glass is also shatter resistant.
• A quiet, squirrel-cage type circulating fan to force convective heat into the room.
• A secondary heat exchanger. A well-designed fireplace will have channels around and behind the combustion chamber, through which air circulates and picks up heat from the fireplace before re-entering the room. The best units go a step further by incorporating a secondary heat exchanger that extracts more heat from the combustion gases and transfers it to the house.
• An insulated outer casing (except for freestanding units). This prevents heat loss through the walls of the home when a fireplace is located on an exterior wall.
• Good control capabilities. Most gas fireplaces have a variable setting control, which allows you to adjust the temperature by regulating the rate of gas consumption. For maximum energy efficiency and comfort control, look for a model with wide turndown ranges - some units can be turned down only to 70 percent of full load, but others can go as low as 20 percent! Some models also have an automatic thermostat control, which will adjust the firing rate to keep the room at just the right temperature.
• Ducting capabilities. Some fireplaces can be connected to a certain amount of ductwork - much like a furnace - which can help distribute heat to more remote areas of the home while preventing overheating of the room where the fireplace is installed.