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Design Dilemma Fireplaces Heating & Air Conditioning

Pros/Cons of Ventless Propane/Gas Fireplace?

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Hello! We're building a house in southern AZ (Nogales area) and are putting in a see-through fireplace between the family room and living room. We were originally thinking of vented - and now we found a ventless that we really like, and like that it could be a heat source if our power goes out. We're looking at having the fireplace for ambiance, as well as for adding some heat. https://www.monessenhearth.com/fireplaces/vent-free-gas-fireplaces/artisan-see-thru Our house will be apprx 2100 sf. Also thinking of putting a small ventless in the casita (appx 550 sf).

Does anyone have a ventless fireplace? What are the pros/cons? I've read some articles about them with one saying that you'll have soot all over everything in the house. Is that true? Or possible water condensation in the house?

Any info from people that currently have or have had a ventless fireplace would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your help :-)

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Comments (4)

sktn77a
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I have two in two houses. I use them for emergency or temporary heat. They work well in that setting. Be aware that the vent CO2 (NOT carbon monoxide) and water vapor into the room so you don't want to use it as a primary heating source. They also shouldn't be used in bedrooms. I haven't had any issues from soot - that is the byproduct of incomplete combustion which they are designed not to do.
Nancy Drew thanked sktn77a
Seabornman
3 years ago
I put one in a house for sporadic use and then rented out the house to hillbillies who ran it all the time, which created moisture and mold problems. It is amazing how much water is produced burning natural gas or propane.
Nancy Drew thanked Seabornman
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I have no idea where you live, if you mentioned it I missed it. Here's what I learned from building our 2,200 square foot adobe house in the mountains of New Mexico where NG is not an option and the 7,100 elevation means plenty of snow in winter. Build passive solar. I'm amazed at how well our south-facing windows help to heat the house (polished concrete floors are the thermal mass). At night we close the double-cell blinds to keep the heat in and the cold out. The adobe walls keep the house at a very even temperature, especially in the summer. No need for A/C even on 90+ degree days. All the neighbors have propane in-floor heat and complain a lot about the cost in the winter. We opted for an ETS system, with in-floor heat. We're on an electric rate that has peak and off-peak hours. Our water heater is on a timer. The ETS downloads heat only during off-peak hours and stores it in ceramic bricks. The systems work great and monthly costs are about 1/3 what our neighbors pay to run heat and water heating on propane. One of the neighbors installed solar hot water and has repeatedly commented that it will take way too many years to break even. We pre-plumbed for solar hot water, but haven't taken the plunge yet. We use propane for our kitchen range, from a 5-gallon tank outside the kitchen wall. Yep, the same tank that runs a BBQ. One fill lasts about 6 months.
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We have a vent-free in our basement also. No problems whatsoever, and I am pretty sensitive to smells/odors. We have a plug-in CO detector; and it has never gone off. Our winters are average (we live in mid-atlantic region) - but since the fireplace is in the basement, we only run it when we're down there. As you say, it looks nice and it provides quite a bit of heat quickly. We got it on clearance last year when Lowes was selling out for the season - about $550 for the fireplace, mantle, remote control, and blower! Not a bad deal at all, considering the local hearth store wanted $1,000 minimum for a vent-free.
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The danger of a gas appliance vented into a habitable room is not from lack of oxygen but the build-up of carbon monoxide from incomplete combustion of the gas. It is an odorless colorless painless quiet killer. Such equipment has a carbon monoxide detector that is intended to shut off the gas but I would recommend also installing an independent one with battery backup and keeping fresh flowers in the house. Obviously, they should never be placed in a bedroom or a small or poorly ventilated space. One of my clients had headaches and felt dizzy and finally noticed that the flowers delivered for a party had wilted overnight. She called her husband at work who told her to get out of the house and called an ambulance. A flue for a gas pool heater in the basement had been accidentally blocked during renovation of the house. I had designed the renovation and now I not only insist on gas flues, I personally verify that they work. In matters of life safety, I strongly recommend paying for the most fail-safe systems available.
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My gas range will light with a match and therefore will work during power outages. We also have camping equipment in the garage and can cook on a portable propane burner, if necessary. I have a single induction burner, which I like to use with my pressure cooker, but I would never want to switch to all induction after trying it. I think the best solution is to have both, if possible. Personally, I do not like the way induction ranges look, and I do have a lot of cookware that will not work with induction. Also, I often use the gas flame for heating tortillas or grilling peppers. I also have a wok that I like using that would not work at all on induction and I tend to move pans around on the stove top a lot. Anyway, I would never give up gas, which is why I think having both is the best solution. My mother had an electric range, which I thought was the worst, and I could never tell which burner was on and often I could not tell when a burner was on at low temperature.
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Nancy Drew
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you @sktn77a and @Seabornman for the first-hand and useful information! I really appreciate it :-)
jimct01
3 years ago
You couldn't give me a ventless fireplace. We have a second house with one. They deplete the oxygen in the house and when operation they emit lots of water (probably not an issue in AZ) carbon dioxide and other small amounts of combustion by products. while I don’t normally suffer allergies there are three things that cause a slight asthmatic like symptoms in me: dogs, mold and ventless fireplaces. These units all have oxygen sensors which is a primitive electomechanical device which is supposed to shut down the heater when the O2 level drops to low. When not operating properly they can like any combustion device emit carbon monoxide. When we rented the property we had to disconnect it beacauss local codes prohibit these in rental properties. I believe most building codes near me prohibit new installs in any property .

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