Gas-burning logs are a more efficient replacement for traditional wooden logs

The crackling sound of an intimate fire on a snowy winter’s night, the life-giving heat that bars the cold and embraces you with its soft touch, the all-encompassing smell of burning wood, and the stone fireplace which radiates heat from its hard heart. Ohhhh, the memories.

They aren’t my memories, certainly, and most likely not yours either, if you were raised in the city. But if this is what you see when you look back, then I’m sure you can also recall spending hours shoveling out the fireplace, cleaning the chimney, splitting and stacking the wood, and inhaling the smoke, ash, and fumes. I begin hacking just thinking about it.

The negative memories may be a thing of the past, and only the feel-good ones will be left, if you consider using ceramic gas-burning logs in place of actual wood. Being ceramic means they will last for many years while burning either propane or natural gas. Vented and vent-free are the two types of logs offered for sale. Learn more about ventless fireplace gas logs, buy ventless gas logs and fireplace mantle designs.

Vented gas logs sit in the fireplace just like regular wood logs. Their flames wrap around the logs and frolic along the sides like devilish sprites. That is, at least, until you get tired of watching the fire and shut the flames off with a remote. Vented gas logs provide a gorgeous option to wood burning, however this is great only when you have a fireplace in your home, or the extra space to build one.

What about people who are more living-space-challenged? Nowadays, apartment-dwelling city folk can have memories, too, by buying vent-free ceramic gas logs. These fireplaces can be portable and they give off a small but pleasing blue flame. A great thing about vent-free logs is they generate more heat than a wood burning stove of comparable size. The reason is the logs are made of a ceramic that causes heat to radiate outwards after it reaches a certain temperature. The dense, refractory ceramic used to construct these logs so they are realistic in appearance and effective in heat output, also allows you to enjoy your stove without the cleanup of ash, wood dust and messy shavings. Because they are self-contained (i.e. no vent), all of the heat produced stays in the room. The drawbacks to vent-free logs are the rise in humidity, needing oxygen and carbon monoxide detectors (which sometimes are included with the unit), and the need for fresh air (open a window) if the fireplace has been on for a long time.

The type of gas-burning logs you decide on will depend on a balance between aesthetics, functionality, and convenience. The vented log will look real and set a cozy ambiance, however, it will not give off much warmth since most of that is vented up the chimney. The vent-free gas-burning logs are easier to place and more “green”, but the flame is small and blue and the fireplaces need more effort to maintain safety.