During the winter, with a shivering chillness in the atmosphere, fire becomes the perfect place of central attraction. You can rediscover the much-needed warmth of direct vent gas fireplace with its ambiance of sparkling flames notwithstanding a chilled snowfall outside. Gone are the days when one has to look for the logs, collect and set them up to ignite your cherished fireplace. The marvel of today's modern innovative technology is at your doorstep.
By mere switching on your Direct Vent Fireplace, you can get the instant warmth. Moreover, the classic and cozy designs can only add to the beauty of your interior décor. Now enjoy your book reading or quite chat with your family or a little romance with your valentine!
Although, visibly they are quite same like the old traditional fireplaces, in many ways belongs to the generation next fireplaces. The innovations of modern technology has played very significant role in solving many of the hazards and problems attached with the forebears.
Previously, they were built with help of mortar-and-brick masonry involving foundations and chimneys. Nowadays they are based on the technology of zero-clearance. These are prefabricated units made up of metal. These are designed in such a way that they can be installed in wood-frame construction. There is no need of construction of a foundation. The biggest difference between these fireplaces and any other is a chimney. Because of their efficient burning, they are vented directly out a wall. That means these new Direct Vent Gas fire places are much easier and much less expensive to install than their forebear masonry units. Moreover, because of their prefabricated structure they enjoy greater flexibility in their placement.
One of the most basic differences is Direct-vent fireplaces burn propane or natural gases instead of wood. Initially, conventional gas-fired fireplaces were required a Class B ventilation pipe through-the-roof to vent away those hot gases, the byproducts of the combustion process. But now, the present generation burn gases efficiently by using maximum heat from the combustion process thus exercising much more efficient way of getting warmth. These units come with a securely sealed glass door which prevents leakage of combustion products into the room. The required air to support the flame is entered from outside, while the comparatively cooler gases from combustion process are thrown out through the vent.
As these units are gas-fired, they counter the grave setback of wood-smoke pollution that grew to disaster many times about a decade ago. Unlike the traditional fireplaces that used wooden logs, these gas fired units give off almost no particulates. So, there is no question of hazardous flames or ash outside the fireplace.
As it happens with all gas fireplaces, these are much easier to operate than wood-burning units. You are not required to acquire, heave, hack, start and continually feed wood to the fire anymore. Forget the sweeping of chimney or scooping out ashes. With a commodity of remote control, you can control the fireplace with just switching of knob. Moreover, you can also avail the thermostat to maintain the temperature of the room.
Heating
Generally, these fireplaces come with passageways to assist the heat exchange. Some units are having the option of fans to boost this circulation of heat throughout the room. Normally you can achieve about 75% of the heat efficiency. The emission of heat by these gas fired units is measured by British thermal unit (Btu). The amount of heat needed to increase 1 pound of water through 1 degree Fahrenheit is known as 1 Btu.
While choosing the right kind of fireplace, you have to look for its output capacity which can tell you how much heat is generated. By getting the data of input capacity and output capacity, you can derive its efficiency- the ratio of input to output capacity. In general, most of these units emit 25000 to 40000 Btus per hour.
Artificial Logs
Although, all gas fired units use artificial logs to burn, don't worry about the appearance of the flames. Yes, there were the days when these flames didn't appear as real. But nowadays, all the models do produce very authentic fire. You can enjoy those high, dancing yellow flames and that radiant amber. Moreover, you can also experience the scented aroma of wood burning. These new artificial logs come with more dense material emitting more heat than the natural ones.
Designs
They come in many different designs like Standard (one-sided models), two-sided, peninsula models (three-sided) and island models (four-sided). They also come in the shapes of bay-window and corner units. Sizes do vary. While, their width ranges from 30 to 48 inches and height from 24 to 30 inches, they are typically quite shallow - depth ranging from 13 to 18 inches. They come up with both top and rear venting designs.
Controls
Controls vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some models have an electric spark ignition, to save energy, or a piezoelectric ignition. They also come with the option of generator so that you can get the warmth even when there is no power supply. Remote controls have adjustable thermostats, blower speed controls and even the facility of adjusting flame-heights.
Direct vent fireplaces offer the aesthetic beauty of wood fire with the convenience of gas. But look for the certification of American Gas Association (AGA).
