Dear AsktheChimneySweep,
I am considering purchasing a gas log set and am overwhelmed by all of the choices available to me. Should I opt for a fireplace gas blower with my gas log set? Are there benefits to having one versus not having one? Any guidance would be appreciated.
Jim
Cleveland,OH
Jim,
I’m glad to hear you’re considering gas logs. I don’t think enough people realize the benefits that gas logs have to offer. You are absolutely right. In the last couple of years, there have been many advances made to gas log sets. Gas log sets now have remote controls and blowers. They can burn to look like a real fire, and come in all shapes, sizes, and styles. If you have read any of my work before you will know that I only recommend burning vented gas logs. This is due to the controversy over whether ventless gas logs pose health hazards.
How do gas logs produce heat?
Before we discuss whether a gas blower will be beneficial to you, let’s discuss how gas logs produce heat. Most gas log manufacturers claim that their gas logs produce radiant and convection heat. Although a gas blower won’t increase the radiant heat, it will blow the convection heat further into the room than it would have reached normally. Also it is helpful for you to know how a gas blower works. The blower actually takes in unheated air from the room, heats it, and blows it back into the room.
Loud or noisy?
One concern that many customers have when it comes to the question of whether or not to purchase a gas log blower is whether or not it is going to be loud or noisy and disrupt the activity going on in the room where the gas logs are located. While the gas log blower will only blow the air a certain distance, more powerful blowers blow the warm air further than less powerful blowers. The more powerful models are, obviously, more noisy than the less powerful ones. However, in the past, all gas log blowers were very noisy and newer models have reduced the noise of a blower to nearly none at all.
Thermostat
You want to be sure that if you have decided on purchasing a gas log blower that it has a thermostat. This way you can manually adjust the temperature in the room and save money on your electric bill when the weather is slightly warmer out and crank up the heat when the weather is extremely cold. All in all a gas log blower helps to warm the room more using a relatively low amount of electricity to operate the blower. At the end of the day, everyone is looking to save money on home heating, and with the price of natural gas projected to stay fairly constant over the next few years, gas home heating is definitely something to consider.
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