Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 11/4/2008

Question
Re: question asked was: Subject: converting wood burning fireplace to gas
I read with interest your reply to a reader that one can put in a gas line and
gas logs within an existing log-burning fireplace without doing masonry
work. How does that work? Do most fireplaces have  openable parts unknown
to me? I am picturing my dads gas ceramic logs that have a tube coming in
from inside the wall of the brick fireplace. i know he added that after he used
it as a wood fireplace, but he can't remember if someone came in and did
masonry work. I'm trying to 'sell' my husband on converting to a gas log and
then in the future a gas insert. He's concerned about the 2 or 3 days without
heat we sometimes face in the Seattle area and so he's slow to convert, so i
thought we'd begin with just the gas line and ceramic logs, but the effort of
drilling in masonry seems like too much right now. Our fireplace is the length
of one wall, with limestone front and a stone hearth.

Answer
Dona - thanks for your question!

If I recall, the question you're referring to involved the chimney...it's relatively easy to convert a woodburning fireplace to gas, more difficult to do the reverse.

The reason is the size of the flue relative to the "smoke" produced by the fire.  A wood fire makes a lot of smoke, natural gas makes very, very little.

As long as the existing flue is in good shape, there may be no work required to convert it to gas.

Another option is to "direct-vent" the gas fireplace flue to the outside with certain prefabricated fireplace insert models.

Converting the firebox (the big hole where the fire is) is a little different.  The most common practice is to install a gas-fired log unit into the firebox.  Assuming the flue is OK, all you need to do is get gas to it (3/4 hole in floor of the fireplace).

A prefabricated insert is another story.  This type of unit requires an existing firebox with enough space in it.  These units also come in "openable" and "sealed" types; the sealed type has glass doors that can't be opened.

In any of these cases (assuming no flue work is needed), the amount of masonry work is very, very small - if any is needed at all.  But even if you need to make a hole in the masonry, it's not a big job - an experienced installer will have the equipment he needs to do it.

Find a qualified local fireplace company or masony who does this type of work and have him come out and give you a quote.  I think you'll find the labor part of this to be relatively small - you'll spend more on the unit itself.

Hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com
www.rtaplans.com