Try asking in the fireplace forum.

Wow,

Well, I love my solid fuel fireplace insert. Heats my entire house. Now I would never tell a Client that they don't need or shouldn't need something; not my place. We do however provide our Clients the best information and allow them to reach their own conclusions. The last two projects we built had linear gas fireplaces. The Clients did not want to deal with solid fuel as the homes are contemporary designs with big spaces and clean lines. We installed a Majestic Echelon II 72" and 2 - Montigo L42 See Thru gas fireplaces. Pay close attention to the framing requirements and non-combustible clearances. I believe the Echelon required 48" clear -non combustable materials above the burn box so the mantel must be stone or higher than 48" and the btu's can be quit high 30,000 for the 72" which might impact your existing gas system. They were finishes off with glass media and river stones which complemented the modern design and made our Clients very happy!

How does a direct vent gas fireplace threaten comfort, sustainable use of energy and indoor air quality? We currently have a wood burning fireplace in our house that we seldom use, and I can definitely understand how it affects indoor air quality, and maybe comfort. But I thought with a direct vent gas fireplace that air quality would not be affected, because the air used for combustion is drawn directly from outside, then sent back out, without ever being able to otherwise circulate within the house.

Mike, it doesn't.

I have the Napoleon brand. Worth a look. It was the value choice 2 years ago.

Mendota. We installed ours in 2011 (previous house) and it was around $4k then. Ours was a dual-sided, direct vent design.

I was going to post a disagreement with Springtime but he has some points also. First - fireplaces leak air. Not being used - they leak air. No one builds a passive house with a fireplace. So that is one reason they are a barrier to sustainable building.

Next - they burn NG. Truly the only potentially sustainable fuel is electricity - can be generated onsite etc. Every year, electricity gets generated more sustainably but NG is NG. But most people do not use the fireplace enough to be a big issue.

But Springtime is concerned with IAQ a lot. I'm guessing he would be concerned about products of combustion getting into the interior. Direct vent fireplaces are pretty darn good so most people would not be bothered by that. Unvented - different story.

He doesn't like attached garages either for the same reason. I would argue that combustible fuel used for transportation is not going to last so there are a lot bigger fish to fry than attached garages.

Now if you do some research, you will be shocked to see how much energy is wasted by the fireplaces in existing construction. By memory - something like 7% of all energy used in residences. Truly amazing...

Mendota

House build · More Info

Looks like its going to be a Heat&glo cosmo 32...

Thanks for the thoughts and tolerance guys. I think direct vent are relatively good at avoiding Indoor Air Quality IAQ problems but would add the tighter and smaller the house, the greater the chances of exhaust contamination along with time used. Life safety codes require the use of CO detectors when including gas appliances and it seems barely 50% of homeowners maintain batteries and replacement. You don't add IAQ liability or risk when you go all electric.

It seems most high performance builders are aiming for passive house airtightness, levels that many other building professionals point to as cost effective for most new construction. Exhausting things gets much harder at these levels.

Many designers embrace the beauty of truth in materials. What could be more fake, than a hydrofracked fossil fuel behind a pane of glass that provides little useful heat? What is the real truth represented by the flames?

New construction should include infrastructure costs like trenching and pipe drop charges per appliance. Of course if a client is willing to spend more and install gas stuff, I can always see the bright side that I will probably make more money.

I'm already having gas run to the house for the furnace and instant hot water heater. I figure I might as well use it for a fireplace too, that can be used to heat the house somewhat in the event of an extended power outage. I see your point about going all electric, and if I could justify the extra cost of going geothermal HVAC I might have skipped the gas, but it is what it is. For the cooktop I am shunning gas and going with induction :-)

Oh Mike - cooking with gas is the hardest thing to get off. If you embrace induction then seriously consider going without NG. I use some NG. My monthly charge for connection adds up to more than my usage. I can't get the wife off gas for cooking otherwise I would definitely do all electric.

Pretty much only places with super high electricity rates are the only places that NG is worth it (unless you demand to cook with it).

You spend the money to build tight. ASHPs are amazing nowadays. There are people building tight - and then heating with electric strips. Sounds crazy but when you get the need of heat so low - who cares where it comes from.

Water is not that big of a deal if you keep distribution losses low. New appliances don't use that much. Now if you take a daily 40 gallon bath - keep the NG...