My wife and I are considering having a fireplace installed in our 650 square feet room in the basement, even so the house is well central heated. My wife wants the glow that the fireplace produces, but we are unable to decide whether to have an electric or gas fireplace. My wife is also concerned about fumes produced by gas. We live in Ottawa Canada and can get very cold in the winter! Any advice will be much appreciated.
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Gas. no chopping, no stacking, instant on, instant off (don't minimize this fact). You can add a timer to the on switch and run it for an hour and go to bed without worrying that the house till catch fire.
I agree. We built in 1977. HAD TO HAVE a fireplace. Always looked so GREAT on TV, etc.
Until it comes to loading, starting, watching, and cleaning IT OUT to start again. Unless you have a butler to do this.
Have not used it in probably 14 years. Would like to just TAKE IT OUT.
No log burning fireplace, consider gas.
We have used gas, electric, and wood fireplaces.
My favorite is the Gas fireplace. Of course you must have a gas line to the house.Once the pilot light is lit, the fireplace is instant on, instant off. Most new one have a remote control. Even when the power is off during to bad storms in the winter, we were able to stay warm by using the gas fireplace. And even able to heat water for tea,instant soup and such.
Hope this helps.
barb
Definitely GAS. We just went through a winter storm that took out the electric for 10 plus days. We had a total electric house. We put a gas fireplace in the basement this summer. Love the flames. The fireplace looks REAL and no work to it.
Central Ohio had a true blizzard in 1978 and if we hadn't had our gas fireplace, I don't know just what we would have done. Something hit one of our windows and broke it and it was days before we could have gotten any help. We had three very young children at the time, so we all moved into the only room with the heat and just waited it out.
I agree that a gas fireplace has many benefits; however, please do your research when purchasing. Even though there are many ventless gas logs available, be extremely cautious. If you read the fine print on the manual/instructions, it will tell you that you must operate the ventless logs with a window cracked and proper ventilation to avoid carbon monoxide build-up. In my opinion, the ventless logs are not a safe option. I would opt for the true gas logs that vent through a lined chimney. Ask around for a reputable chimney sweep/chimney repair, and spend some time talking with them about safety and their recommendations. Good luck to you!
I love my gas logs, when the power is out I still have heat just not the fan to push it through the house.
Like everyone else you can't go wrong w/ gas and it helps when reselling your home. Just buy you a carbon monoxide detector.
I have a small electric fireplace in my basement and love it, it is cool to the touch and it is safe for someone with children. It keeps my basement warm which is around 900 sq ft.
Electric fireplace would be your best choice for two reasons. One is that you don't need to build vents, and another is that it is safer. Just be sure to check the capacity of heating because most electric fireplace can only heat up to 400 square foot room. I suggest you look for infrared powered electric fireplace, not the radiant type, but the one that warms the air. This type can heat up to a thousand square foot room. You can take a look at this infrared electric fireplace in demo to get an idea.
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