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Fuel Type Overview
Choosing a burning Hearth Product may be a difficult decision. A critical decision that you need to make when purchasing a hearth product is: The type of FUEL your hearth appliance will burn and consume. This section of our site will help to make the Fuel Type decision that is right for you.
There are five major factors that must be considered when comparing fuel types:
Cost, Availability, Convenience, Efficiency, and Reliability. Details
What are the Pros and Cons of each Fuel Type?
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All of Best Fire's Gas Burning Hearth Product are of a Direct Vent type!! |
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Pros |
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Cleaner than wood or pellet |
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Easy to use - operated with a flip of a switch or remote control |
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Can be automated by a thermostat or timer |
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Can be installed almost anywhere is the home-very versatile installation options |
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Energy efficient & great for zone heating to reduce heating bills |
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Air-tight combustion chamber to maintain indoor air quality |
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Air needed for combustion comes from outside |
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Performance not affected by tight homes or negative house pressure |
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Easily incorporated into any room design to complement or enhance the decor |
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Cons |
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Cannot re-create the smell or sound of a wood fireplace |
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Cannot access the firebox to tend the fire |
Gas Room-Vented (a.k.a. Ventfree, Un-vented) Best Fire does not carry ventfree products!! |
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Pros |
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Less involved installation |
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Easy to use - operated with a flip of a switch or remote control |
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Can be automated by a thermostat or timer |
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Very efficient, all heat and exhaust is returned to room |
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Cons |
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Exhaust is being vented into room-Do you really want to to breathe in exhaust? |
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Can create an awful smell when in use. |
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Room must be of certain size to accommodate |
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A natural gas, room-vented appliance emits about a gallon of water every 2-3 hours |
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Illegal in many states and municipalities |
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For safety reasons, cannot be run for long periods of time |
Cannot be installed into small areas or sleeping areas |
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Gas Logs-Vented |
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Pros |
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Typically less expensive that a direct vent gas insert solution |
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Big beautiful yellow flames |
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Instant open-burning fire |
Less involved installation |
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Cons |
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Limited or no heating capacity |
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May not work properly in negative pressure environments (new tight homes) |
| May not qualify for every fireplace |
| Usually very high BTU/hr input-will cost more to operate than direct vent |
| Will not fix a poor-drafting wood fireplace-will actually cause more problems |
| Requires room air for combustion |
| Can be temperamental due to being natural draft appliances |
| Can be temperamental due to overheating of electronics, valves, and other controls |
| May actually pull more heat out of the room than it adds to it-negative efficiency? |
Factors which need to be considered when choosing a fuel type: |
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Cost - Burning fuel which is converted to energy costs money. The local and global marketplace continues to change which will affect how much you will have to pay for the supply and delivery of your fuel. However when determining your TRUE COST, you must also consider the fuel's indirect costs: time/effort required to operate, the potential aggravation and annoyances (or lack there of), and the cost of the initial investment.
Click for "Fuel Cost Calculator" from Pellet Fuels Institute
Click for "Fuel Cost Calculator" from Hearth & Home Technologies.
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Availability - The long-term availability and the quality of fuel varies by geographical regions. For instance, availability of electric, natural gas, and liquid propane are readily available today in our area and the quality of these fuels remain consistently very good. However wood and wood pellet fuels require additional work on your part to source, and may be difficult to predict the consistent quality from year to year.
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Convenience - For the enjoyable use of your hearth appliance your fuel choice must best match your lifestyle. When thinking of how much ease-of-use operation means to you, you must think about the time it takes to source, handle, and store your fuel. Additionally how much time and effort would you like to take to operate, clean, and maintain your fuel-specific hearth product?
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Efficiency - Efficiency measures how much of the potential energy of the fuel used is released as heat-energy into the home. When heating value is high on your list of goals for your hearth product, you must analyze the actual operating efficiency of a product/fuel type to get a clear picture of how much you will benefit from money that you spend on the fuel usage.
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Reliability - When adding a hearth appliance to serve as back-up heat source or as a primary heat source in a section of your home, reliability is important. You must consider: Will this product work in a power outage? What would cause the hearth appliance to fail or operate less efficiently? Based on the fuel type you select and the hearth appliance the answers to these questions will vary. |
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