Wood To Gas Fireplace Conversion

When converting back to wood from gas logs you may want to keep the gas line in your fireplace.

Wood to gas fireplace conversion.

A wood burning prefabricated fireplace will need a conversion kit but masonry fireplaces have several options. Conventional masonry wood burning fireplaces are ideal for converting to gas because they already have the look of a traditional fireplace and all you have to do is install the gas burning guts inside the firebox. Wood burning appliances such as wood stoves cannot be converted to gas. Not only is the natural gas environmentally friendly but a gas fireplace also eliminates the need for wood.

Because it is in its natural form and requires little processing natural gas is considered to be the most environment friendly fossil fuel around. A remote control or wall switch magically ignites the flames. As the name implies vented logs require a vent system the chimney when converting an existing wood fireplace to gas while non vented logs operate without a vent. These include converting the unit to use gas logs using a gas fireplace insert which also makes the fireplace much more efficient or converting the fireplace to a vent free appliance.

After you ve made sure that your chimney is in proper condition and ready for a wood burning fireplace you can finally finish out converting from gas to wood. The convenience of gas means no more stacking and hauling wood no more ash to clean up and no more strategy required to start a fire. Everyone loves the coziness and warmth of a crackling wood fire but as wonderful as wood is there may come a day when you d like to convert to gas. The only real action that takes place at this point is removing the gas logs and either tapping off the gas line or having a gas lighter installed for your wood fireplace.

Leaving your gas line allows you to add a gas starter pipe to your fireplace. You can make the conversion by simply adding a gas log set or by installing a self contained gas insert unit with its own chimney. Costs to convert wood fireplace to gas installing a gas line and either vented or vent free gas logs will cost from 500 to 2 500. Converting a wood fireplace to a gas fireplace is usually done for environmental concerns.

A gas starter pipe provides gas to your fireplace meaning you won t need any kindling to start a fire just a match. Note that the cost of installing vent free gas logs is often about 200 more than the cost for vented gas inserts cost 2 000 to 5 500.