One of my favorite restraunts has an old masonry fireplace that's been converted to gas. It's quite wonderful to sit by the fire without any glass intervening, and the logs are very convincing till you realize you don't smell any smoke and there's no crackling/popping sounds.

But that sort of fireplace is tough and expensive to replicate: you have to have a masonry unit built, then buy the logs and burner from a complany like Eiklor flames. You have to worry about the chimney damper, being certain to open it before you turn on the fp, close it when done or it will literally suck every bit of heat out of your house. I ultimately would rather have a unit that's been designed and tested to work together, clean and safe.

Essentially, I think you'd be paying a great deal more for the sake of eliminating that piece of glass, especially since most wood burners have glass doors these days.

You need to decide just what matters most to you in a fireplace: realistic logs and flames, high heating efficeincy, a good 'turn down' rate [so you can enjoy the look of the fire without being overheated], initial price, etc. Then you need to figure out how many BTUs you can sustain. If it isn't your main heat source, don't get so many BTUs that you can't stand to burn it.

Then it is imperative to see them burning in person: there is a difference.

I expected to love the new 'clean face' FPs with no metal louvers etc., just a piece of very clear glass. From a distance, they do look great, exactly like an open FP. But closer in, the glass tries to be so unobtrusive that it kind of calls attention to itself, and is worse than a glass door that doesn't try to hide from you-- it's like the glass is something to be ashamed of. Reminds me of the frameless eye glasses-- great in theory, but actually much more distracting than normal ones.

I actually ended up prefering the models with screen in the doors. Cutting down the visual sharpness raised the plausiblity factor considerably. If I end up doing a 'clean face' in my MBR, I'll get a large free standing screen for it...

I also ruled out one from [I think] Heat-n-glo where all the logs and flames were contained in a metal box. The psuedo brick floor surrounding the box is utterly spootless, not a speck of dust or ash. Made the whole thing scream 'FAKE!!!' from such a distance that I crossed it off imeadieately, even though the flames and logs were pretty good [I even asked the salesman if I could spray a little gray and black spray paint on it, maybe add some fake ash, he said no, would void the warranty etc.].

I've bought 3 so far. The living and dining will have Mendottas. The flame is the best I've found-- one of the few that use 3 level burners for more height variation, and can be turned partially off for just a little dancing flame when you don't want the extra heat.

Check the BTU numbers, not just the top and bottom, but how much variation there is between them. Most gas units actually 'turn down' by opening an extra vent and dumping the excess heat outdoors. Somehow seems immoral to me.

The extras for mendotta [like the copper or nickle doors] are wicked pricey, though.

The FP for my mother's room will be a Napoleon 'Park Avenue'. Taller, thiner, takes little space. They have an extra 'night light' in them. Sounds like a gimmick, but its really very nice in person, adds a lot of realisim because a wood fire actually gives off a lot more light than a gas flame.

Haven't decided for my bedroom or the family room yet. In the family, I want a unit with an electronic ignition instead of a pilot. It will be used so rarely that a standing pilot seems like a waste. For my own room, I'm still hoping to find something close the the Mendottas for a little less money.

oruboris, Thank you for the lengthy and informative reply. I really appreciate the insight and information on the models you have had "real life" experience with. I do have one question though...

Is it absolutely true that you would have to have a masonry fireplace? Today I was looking products by Heat N Glo (Exclaim) and Heatilator (SC60) which were billed as a woodburning fireplace and would essentially be a manufactured or 'Prefab' fireplace with a sheet metal fire box and double or triple walled metal pipe running up inside a wood framed chase. This would be a more affordable alternative to a true masonry fireplace which would be entirely build of brick or stone?

Does anyone have any experience with this type of product?

Were in the process of making the same decision. My wife could really care less about the fireplace because she never had one and thinks its pretty much for decoration. I on the other hand grew up with a old wood burning masonry fireplace and have nice childhood memories about it. Most on this site recommend a direct vent gas unit for many reasons ie: indoor air quality, energy efficiency, safety. My builder is kind of old school, he thinks any fireplace that vents to the outside will leak and we should just get what we want. He also likes to be able to open the doors and see and hear the flames. He is saying that he would install a install a wood burning unit, run a gas line and install a gas log set. Then in the future we could just remove it if we want to go wood only. He said the cost difference would be only for the gas log set. We live in a heavily wooded area SW Michigan with tons of wood to burn.

Anyway, I'm still not sure what we are going to do.

We purchased the Lennox "Estate" model. It is a 48" wood burning firplace.
We plan on running a gas bar in it, like clever mentioned and having a "fake" log set up in it. We don't want the hassle of the wood burning mess at the moment. I know it is not the most efficient fireplace, but we don't need it necessarily for heat (we're in So.Cal), but want all of the other effects of a fireplace.

This is a picture when it was first installed

This is a picture of it now, we are getting ready to paint!

Best of luck with your decision. I think we will really love ours!
V

I know ours is pre-fab and has a metal pipe running up through a wood box. There is also a flex pipe that leads outside and has vent on the back porch. I am pretty sure it is not a very expensive one. Our builder never even asked us about the fire place and it really ticked DH off. We wanted something with a more rustic appeal. Not much we can do. We showed up one day and it was in there! I guess the builder thought a fire box is a fire box.

Good luck with your search!

Below is a link to a "complete" 42" prefab FMI unit. This was an auction but you can get the same price by calling them at the CT number direct. You'd basically just have to have the unit and chase framed, flashed and capped. I don't think there's a whole lot more to it. The costs come where all home costs come. Costs for finishing the fireplace begins at 500 and up.....we've put a limestone surround and overmantel in our budget but it's one of the first things to go if we break the bank. Sounds like the local place may have an agenda....either a higher margin in Direct Vent units or possibly no business interest in Live Wood units....either way if they're not making a product available to you go somewhere else.

Here is a link that might be useful: H&S Fireplace

We're putting in this wood burning unit; the glass door slides into the side of the unit, giving you the option of having it open or sliding the firescreen out of the other side of the unit. This may not do it for you at all, but I think it'll give me enough of a 'fireplace'.

Here is a link that might be useful: Topaz Fireplace

Thanks to everyone for your responses. This was really helpful. From your links and pointers, I think I've found a wood burning fireplace by FMI that will work quite nicely. I'll call on Monday morning to see if there is a distributor in my area and talk to my builder about installation. Thank so much for all your help! Jaymie

Looks like your decision is made. But I'll add my 2 cents anyway.

We put in a 48" Majestic Wood Burning Box. We've been in our house now since June and have burned about 8-10 nights now. We could not be more pleased! Despite all the recommendations on this board, we find the efficiency to be more than satisfactory. Many said that the net effect would be that the house actually cools down from an open fire. Whether it does or not, I don't know, but I do know that we have to shed clothing to the point of sitting in shorts and a T-shirt! So....efficient enough for us.

Also, I completely underestimated the value of the sounds and smells of a real fire. No doubt about it that all of our guests notice it too. They all have gas logs, but at our house you can just see it in their eyes and face that the atmosphere is clearly changed by the sounds and smells.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks tragusa. I also love the ambiance of a real fireplace. I think that we are going to initially just install the wood burning box and plumb for gas. We should move in in the summer (fingers crossed) and that will give us time to decide if we want to put a gas log in one or both fireplaces. Since there are two fireplaces, we might do one "real" and one gas log in the great room which I'm sure would be nice to kick on with a switch. Either way, we have maximum flexibility. Jaymie

Jaymielo.
We moved in our new home in June and put in a 36 inch Fireplace Extraordinaire wood burning fireplace. It's essentially a wood store that looks like a fireplace. It has sealed glass doors and brings in outside air for the firebox and brings in outside air through the firebox to warm up the house. We've been able to heat our entire 2500 sq foot first floor with this relatively well. I did not opt for the gas line, since I love starting the fire from scratch. If you are going to buy a woodburning fireplace, you may want to consider a firebox with the efficiency rating of a wood stove; it really makes the fireplace more functional. By the way, I love the sound and the smell.

The poster neglected to mention that the "clean face" fireplaces (like the Heat n' Glo Escape) cost much more than the ones that show all the tin can on the face.
I think that they look much, much nicer, than the ones with tin can and glass, especially in formal settings.
I do not understand the issue with the appearance of glass on a clean face, or any other fireplace. With energy costs rising, a sealed combustion unit with glass is almost a necessity....not because of their efficiency/lack of efficiency while operating, but in order to prevent the loss of heat up the shoot when they are not working.
I love the H&G Escape I have. I would never go back to the soot and inefficiency of a masonry or prefab wood burner or the black tin can face of most other gas prefab fireplaces.
I would suggest visiting a couple of fireplace shops to look at the fireplaces and to get their different opinions (supporting their various brands) before making up your mind.

We have a woodburning Fireplace Xtrordinair 44 Elite in our new home and are really pleased with it. Our home is over 4000 sf, and the temperature in the Master Bedroom upstairs is the same as right next to the fireplace downstairs. The "posi-pressure" system works just as advertised. We were disappointed initially that we couldn't have a masonry fireplace and were afraid our fireplace wouldn't look "real," but we're very happy with it now. We bought the optional black metal screen, but find we actually prefer using the glass doors. You can hear the crackle even with the doors closed so it's very soothing for the soul. :-) It's also great to be able to just walk away from the fire and go to bed without worrying about safety.

One thing we're especially happy we did is that we put our blower in the basement, directly below the family room, and you can hardly hear anything, even when the blower is set on "high." The only downside to our fireplace is that creosote does build up some on the glass, even with the air wash system, but it comes off quite easily with the fireplace glass cleaner we bought. I've heard that happens on all wood-burning fireplaces with glass doors.

Because these fireplaces qualify as a furnace, they do have strict requirements for how close the mantel can be, so we ended up having our builder make our mantel, but we're very pleased with how it turned out.

In our Master Bedroom we have a Fireplace Xtrordinair gas fireplace, but it's mostly for ambiance, so we made sure to get a model that we can adjust for a very low BTU. To avoid the "fake" look, we got a built-in screen, andirons, and a model with the most realistic fake logs and embers. It's also got a fun, optional light behind the logs that's surprisingly nice. Great for summer!

We built an authentic wood-burning fireplace. Gas starter but no gas insert. We had it built locally by a mason, so no name brand recommendations.
Interior (yes, a TV will eventually be installed over the fireplace, gasp!):

jaymielo... I strongly suggest that you look at Isokern systems. They are pumice stone (volcanic rock), modular, masonry systems that can be assembled and installed in under a day. A lot of the high-end builders here use them as they reflect heat better and don't take weeks to complete. You can finish out the outside as with any traditional masonry FP. We love ours.

Here is a link that might be useful: Isokern

dallasbill, Thanks for the pointer. That is an interesting product. I hadn't heard of a pre-fab masonry FP. I'll check into them.