You would need to go first to a dealer that sells/installs fireplaces and fireplace inserts, and talk about your particular situation. He or she will come to your house and look over your system, see how the ventless system was installed, and give you an opinion on what can be done.

Assuming you have a fireplace (either prefab or built on site) with a real chimney, it should in principle be possible to remove the propane logs system you presently have in there and replace it with something else. But a lot depends on the condition of the chimney. If it has been sealed shut, it will not be possible to determine its condition without unsealing it. That could be messy, and then you might get the bad news that the chimney has cracks in it, or whatever, and needs to be relined.

I would strongly urge you to consider a direct vent insert. It is the gold standard for safety and energy efficiency. Since a disagreeable smell is an issue for you (it would be for me), direct vent will probably eliminate that problem because it is a sealed system, and no fumes go into the house. Since direct vent systems include two vents that go up the chimney, it may not be necessary to reline your chimney, even if it has cracks in it. But direct vent systems are expensive.

Thanks, haus proud. I didn't think "ventless" systems had chimneys. I don't think our house has a chimney -- at least not one that I can see. What then?

Some direct vent units (fireplaces or stoves) can be vented horizontally, so you do not need a chimney, provided you are putting the unit against an outside wall. Go to google and search direct vent. that should get you started on the various options you might consider.

Thanks haus proud and bikesr2tired. Unit is not on an outside wall. How about converting this ventless FP to electric? Could I just rip out the whole thing and buy an electric one without the decorative surround and use the surround that is already there?

You can do that, but don't expect it to do anything that will ever come close to what a gas unit can do. You will also have to do have some heavy duty electrical work as well.

Since your fireplace is not against an outside wall, that does pose complications. A direct vent fireplace would be complicated and costly to install. But you might consider a direct vent gas stove, either cast iron or soapstone. These are free-standing units that have to be some distance from combustible surfaces (the wall behind and on either side of the stove), and they have to stand on a noncombustible surface such as brick, tile, or slate. There would be a chimney that goes up from the rear of the stove to the ceiling, through the ceiling, and continuing on through the roof to the outside. If yours is a 2-story house, the cost would of course be higher than if it is a on-story house, and you'd have to figure out where the chimney would occupy space in your upper floor(s), peferrably in a closet where it would not be seen. A friend of mine had such a system in their 2-story house, but it was planned before construction, whereas yours would be retrofitted. All of this sounds complicated and expensive, and probably is, which is probably why the previous owner put in ventless.

Although electric would not give you the kind of performance you get from gas, I would not dismiss it. Some electric units are pretty good. Just stay away from gas ventless.

Thanks guys. I never thought of a gas stove. It is a one-story so maybe that would work. Do these tend to have the overwhelming stink of propane as does the fireplace we have now? I would think not since the fumes go outside, right?

You would do very well with a free standing direct vent stove and because your house is a one story you should be able to vent directly through the roof. If properly flashed you should have no problems with roof leaks either and because you can vent through the roof, you won't need a forced draft which means that the stove will be absolutely quiet.

A direct vent stove is completely sealed from the inside so you will never have any smell! As stated previously they get all of their combustion air from the outside so your living environment is completely isolated from the firebox. All you are going to get is tons of heat and lots of ambiance! I have a natural gas unit and I LOVE it! Of course what you want to spend is up to you, but I recommend a good quality stove with an adjustable flame feature. I'm kind of partial to the cast enameled stoves. The one I have is a Hearthside and I recommend it highly. I've had it for about 10 years now and never had a problem with it. Also you will want to look at a stove that can be fitted with an external Piezoelectric thermostat. A setup like this means that you will have heat even when the power is out.

Let us know what you decide.

I would also recommend that you get a remote thermostat. They charge too much for them, but they are definitely worth having. After a trial and error period, during which you try out different locations for the thermostat and different temp settings, you will settle in on the one that works best for you. Then you can relax and enjoy your fire. Without a thermostat, you will find that the system tends to get too hot and you will manually shut it off for a few minutes, then turn it back on, etc. The thermostat takes care of that for you.

Deani 1 before you do anything as drastic as removing or changing the type of venting. I suggest getting a professional to come and check out the gas logs. The odor you are smelling might be a leak as all gas has an additive that one can smell if there is a leak. DO NOT USE THE FIREPLACE UNTIL YOU HAVE YOU HAVE THE LOGS AND THEIR CONNECTIONS CHECKED WHICH IS A SURE WAY TO PREVENT AN EXPLOSION. I have had gas appliances and use natural gas to heat my home. So believe me when I tell you to get the logs checked. In the meantime turn off the gas line to the gas logs.

Just food for thought, I recently purchased a new home which had a ventless propane fireplace...every time I used it, my smoke alarms went off and the smell was bad. I had professionals come to check it out, and lol guess what....the wrong set of logs was used in it,,,they were for a natural gas fireplace.....problem solved.....Lee

we hate our remote controlled ventless propane gas fireplace. It never works. There is always something to fix. Don't get remote. thermopiles give out. Safety lockout-not sure. Valve problems. For the cost (we started from scratch putting this in our house at great expense) I wish we had put on a traditional wood burning or gas fireplace with a real chimney.

Daryl, this thread is really old, but the information in it is still valid. I can go along with you when you say you hate ventless fireplaces, but even vented models have thermopiles. I've owned a direct vent gas stove for over 12 years now and I had to replace the thermopile once in all that time and I was able to do it myself instead of some greedy HVAC guy trying to to charge me a million dollars on a simple repair. I like the thermopile, standing pilot, technology because even when there is a power failure the stove will still work. As far as "safety lockout" or valve problems are concerned, you can have problems with those no matter what type of gas appliance you buy. Burning wood will eliminate those problems and introduce new ones. I burn wood in an EPA approved catalytic wood burning stove and I love the thing, but it is a lot of "satisfying" work and there is a learning curve how to effectively use one.

Any chance you could vent a ventless gas fireplace insert through the floor and to outside wall?

cowoolsey