Setup can be achieved two ways. One, by adding a log set and burner into an existing masonry wood burning fireplace that is in good working order. Or two, by adding a vent free insert, like was described earlier.
Inserts are most commonly used when there is a problem with an existing fireplace that would make it unsafe to have a wood burning fire. There are many manufactured wood burning fireplaces out there that you cannot put a gas log set, or an insert into. They were not designed to be used any way other than how they were originally manufactured.
There are a lot of safety features that vent free systems have that other versions don’t. For example, an ODS- Oxygen Depletion Sensor, which makes the pilot assembly the equivalent to an electrical circuit breaker. It also has an automatic gas valve, internal regulator, precision burner, and a piezo igniter, which all make them a very safe and clean method of heating in comparison to a wood fire.
Vented and vent-free gas log sets differ in three areas. These are:
- The BTUs of the unit
- The flame pattern or burn method
- The requirements for venting
Vent free burners are designed to burn at a rate that allows it to burn off hazardous chemicals like Carbon Monoxide. A vent-free gas log set safely disperses gas combustion by-products directly into the room where it’s located allowing them to be 99.9% efficient.
Vented log sets are often described as more realistic or natural in the look of the flame, but are less efficient by nature. They often burn at a much higher BTU using more gas- but since they must have an open damper, some of the efficiency drops because you lose some heat out the chimney. Vented log sets in a traditional wood burning fireplace require a working chimney and a damper that can never be closed. Those features make them on average about 75-80% efficient depending on the situation.
And direct-vent fireplaces release those combustion by-products through double wall pipes that vent outside which makes them in average setups 70-80% efficient depending on venting methods and other factors.