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First off, please contact your local public works, city/town/county planning office, gas supplier or building inspector to determine safety procedures, prohibitions, clearances, and other rules and regulations needed during a gas appliance installation. |
- Vent free gas appliances, whether they are logs, heaters, stoves, or fireplaces, are not meant to be a primary source of heat. They are meant to offer you a brilliant fire without soot or ash, and are a good, supplemental heat source. Vented stoves and heaters are designed to be primary heating sources.
- Vent-free gas appliances, especially gas logs, need periodic cleaning according to manufacturer's guidelines in order to maintain their proper performance and efficiency.
- Overuse of a gas appliance, or an attempt to install several fireplaces or heaters in a house or building can result in an undesirable amount of water vapor, since the byproduct of even perfect combustion is carbon dioxide and water. This is yet another reason that gas logs and the like are meant to be supplemental heat sources.
- Vent-free logs come with a variety of safety controls, and are constructed to avoid oxygen depletion, provide automatic shutoff in case of reduced oxygen levels or too hot a fire. The room must have sufficient fresh air ventilation. It is generally recommended that vent-free appliances NOT be installed in smaller bedrooms or bathrooms and should never be left unattended. If vent-free logs are installed in a bedroom, the fireplace damper should be left open. In fact, most local safety codes prohibit the use of vent free units from being installed in bedrooms or bathrooms.
- Gas appliances should be installed by licensed, certified HVAC contractors, plumbers or other gas professionals per the item manufacturer's specific instructions and local building codes.
- Vent-free gas appliances need ventilation. An adequate supply of fresh air must be provided to replace the air the unit is consuming for proper combustion. This usually is accomplished by opening an average window about one inch in the room in which the unit is operating.
- Direct vent and "B" vent heaters must be installed to the letter of the manufacturer's installation instructions in order to draw combustion air properly and to vent their exhaust gases properly.
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