Going green, lol.

[easyrider]

We decided to remove our gas fireplace. It really wasn't anything to do with going green but this actually will reduce green house gasses. The real reason for ditching the gas fire place is after not being turned on for over half the year it's a real bummer to light because it's propane. In the past I would leave it on all year keeping the pilot light lit. It had a really nice oak corner cabinet with gold colored trim. It was a Heat & Glow and back in the 90's the fireplace had a high price tag. The other problem was the heat.

I was going to leave a plant in the space where the fireplace was but complaints came in from the right person. I decided to purchase an electric fireplace. I know it's a fake fire but the company is using Real Flame technology that in the video looks like a real fake flame with a bunch of flame color choices. Looking at these electric fire places I can see that some are really cheesy looking and don't cost much. Some look really nice and cost thousands. I picked an on sale for a little over $600 unit. I'm hoping its not a cheesy one.

Besides the fake flame the new cabinet is fake wood. Kind of a mdf with an oak veneer is what it looks like in the video. It should be here before Thanksgiving.

Anyone have one of these electric fire places ?

Bill

 

[VacationForever]

I have/had 3 Real Flame fireplace. The huge one died after 2 years. The little ones are still working. Breaking down the huge fireplace so that they can be dispose was a real pain in the butt.

 

[DrQ]

All our Timeshares have replaced the fireplaces with electric fireplaces. While I wish that they would experiment to duplicate the random snap/crackle/pop of a real fireplace, I find the overall effect pleasing and would choose it over the mess of a real fireplace and a gas insert which has the same constant flame as the electric.

I think that electric/holographic fireplace has the capability to introduce more "randomness" to the effect.

 

[easyrider]

I have/had 3 Real Flame fireplace. The huge one died after 2 years. The little ones are still working. Breaking down the huge fireplace so that they can be dispose was a real pain in the butt.

The Real Flame unit I bought is a bit smaller than the Heat & Glow gas fireplace. It should be a better fit, imo. I did salvage the oak cabinet but tossed the gas unit and trim. I had help hauling it out. It wasn't too much of a problem. I read these only have a one year warranty so I hope it lasts more than two years.

Do you like the flame effects ?

Bill

 

[easyrider]

All our Timeshares have replaced the fireplaces with electric fireplaces. While I wish that they would experiment to duplicate the random snap/crackle/pop of a real fireplace, I find the overall effect pleasing and would choose it over the mess of a real fireplace and a gas insert which has the same constant flame as the electric.

I think that electric/holographic fireplace has the capability to introduce more "randomness" to the effect.

I'm new to electric fireplaces and was kind of in a bit of a rush to get it installed by Thanksgiving. I did read that the flame can turn color and height with no heat which is what we want. I'm not sure if it's a holographic fire. Actually, I'm not sure how this really works yet. It will be kind of fun figuring it out.

Bill

 

[Snazzylass]

Hmmm.. sounds like a lot of trouble for a fake fire. I'm been really happy with YouTube on my TV. Nice crackling of the fire, and like you said, no worry of embers jumping out, or any mess. Been using it for years next to my Christmas Tree and so pleasant on winter mornings.

My son saw it last week when he came over to demo some woodwork I wanted removed. He was not impressed. At all.

Actually, there's a stub of a gas line sticking up through the floor in the living room, and missing moulding along the wall. Apparently a previous owner (not the most recent one) had a gas fireplace in the living room. I might look into replacing it, someday.

 

[klpca]

I'll be curious to see how you like it. We turn ours on twice a year, if that. For a while I would turn it on to keep our kitchen/family room warm, but it was about a $50 increase in our monthly gas bill when I did that, so we stopped. Post some pictures when you can.

 

[VacationForever]

Do you like the flame effects ?

Bill

Absolutely. They also give out lots of heat.

 

[VacationForever]

I'm new to electric fireplaces and was kind of in a bit of a rush to get it installed by Thanksgiving. I did read that the flame can turn color and height with no heat which is what we want. I'm not sure if it's a holographic fire. Actually, I'm not sure how this really works yet. It will be kind of fun figuring it out.

Bill

They usually come with both settings - heat with varying temp or no heat, and different colors and "shapes".

 

[easyrider]

They usually come with both settings - heat with varying temp or no heat, and different colors and "shapes".

I think we are going to enjoy the flames with no heat. I'm kind of looking forward to this change.

Bill

 

[easyrider]

Hmmm.. sounds like a lot of trouble for a fake fire. I'm been really happy with YouTube on my TV. Nice crackling of the fire, and like you said, no worry of embers jumping out, or any mess. Been using it for years next to my Christmas Tree and so pleasant on winter mornings.

My son saw it last week when he came over to demo some woodwork I wanted removed. He was not impressed. At all.

Actually, there's a stub of a gas line sticking up through the floor in the living room, and missing moulding along the wall. Apparently a previous owner (not the most recent one) had a gas fireplace in the living room. I might look into replacing it, someday.

I bought a 44 inch smart tv last summer that I thought would fit into our existing fireplace cabinet. It did fit and I actually thought that the different flame videos looked real enough behind the fireplace mesh screen. So part of it is just wanting a new fireplace I think.

Bill

 

[easyrider]

I'll be curious to see how you like it. We turn ours on twice a year, if that. For a while I would turn it on to keep our kitchen/family room warm, but it was about a $50 increase in our monthly gas bill when I did that, so we stopped. Post some pictures when you can.

When we built this house I thought that having a secondary heat source was important. The gas fireplaces were big enough to do this. The electricity in our area occasionally has an outage that can last about 4 hours at the most. These outages usually occur in the summer after lightning strikes.

An idea that we talked about was to keep our existing fireplace cabinet and replace the gas unit with electric. Too late now, lol.

Bill

 

[DrQ]

I think we are going to enjoy the flames with no heat. I'm kind of looking forward to this change.

Bill

That's what I found in the timeshares

 

[callwill]

We heat our family room with a direct vent propane fireplace. It is probably 25 yrs old, a couple years ago i replaced the millivolt generator and the thermocouple. I probably should have replaced the whole "unit" that includes 3 way pilot but that requires far more disassembly. I figured out a way to clean the pilot lines out as an alternative and learned how to adjust the pilot on the gas valve. Had i known then what i know now, electronic ignition would have been the way to go. I shut down the pilot/gas in the spring and fire it up in the fall. I have learned that once i get the pilot lit (it takes awhile to get the gas from the valve to the pilot and get all the air pushed out) that i need to just leave it on "pilot" for a couple days to get the millivolt generator and thermostat back into a comfortable working relationship. Then i turn the valve to on and use the thermostat to call for heat. If i clicks and i dont get "flame on" i need to do some fiddling with the valve as after months of sitting it acts "stuck". Once i have got it past this, it has been very reliable for heat thru the winter after the seasonal startup glitches

 

[rickandcindy23]

What you should have done was switch the old, inefficient Heat N Glo with a Regency, Jotul, Mendota or even a Napoleon gas fireplace that is efficient and will absolutely heat an area of your house. We don't use our furnace, we use our two gas fireplaces for heat.

Half the battle is the gas line, but I don't really know about propane because we have natural gas at our house, being in the city.

 

[easyrider]

What you should have done was switch the old, inefficient Heat N Glo with a Regency, Jotul, Mendota or even a Napoleon gas fireplace that is efficient and will absolutely heat an area of your house. We don't use our furnace, we use our two gas fireplaces for heat.

Half the battle is the gas line, but I don't really know about propane because we have natural gas at our house, being in the city.

The two Heat & Glow gas fireplaces could heat the entire house but we never needed them to. The problem with the gas heat is it gets too warm even on the low thermostat setting. It looked great but we never had an emergency where we needed them, knock on wood. We use an energy efficient heat pump with forced air for heating and cooling which keeps the house at a constant 73 degrees.

Another thing I'm happy about is not having a huge eye sore propane tank in the back yard or paying to fill it up.

Bill

 

[DrQ]

Another thing I'm happy about is not having a huge eye sore propane tank in the back yard or paying to fill it up.

Bill

Keep the tank and install a whole house backup generator.

 

[easyrider]

We heat our family room with a direct vent propane fireplace. It is probably 25 yrs old, a couple years ago i replaced the millivolt generator and the thermocouple. I probably should have replaced the whole "unit" that includes 3 way pilot but that requires far more disassembly. I figured out a way to clean the pilot lines out as an alternative and learned how to adjust the pilot on the gas valve. Had i known then what i know now, electronic ignition would have been the way to go. I shut down the pilot/gas in the spring and fire it up in the fall. I have learned that once i get the pilot lit (it takes awhile to get the gas from the valve to the pilot and get all the air pushed out) that i need to just leave it on "pilot" for a couple days to get the millivolt generator and thermostat back into a comfortable working relationship. Then i turn the valve to on and use the thermostat to call for heat. If i clicks and i dont get "flame on" i need to do some fiddling with the valve as after months of sitting it acts "stuck". Once i have got it past this, it has been very reliable for heat thru the winter after the seasonal startup glitches

Ours are 1994's fireplaces. I'm glad to not have to deal with them anymore.

Bill

 

[easyrider]

Keep the tank and install a whole house backup generator.

That would be a good idea but I leased the tank. It's a goner.

Bill

 

[easyrider]

We heat our family room with a direct vent propane fireplace. It is probably 25 yrs old, a couple years ago i replaced the millivolt generator and the thermocouple. I probably should have replaced the whole "unit" that includes 3 way pilot but that requires far more disassembly. I figured out a way to clean the pilot lines out as an alternative and learned how to adjust the pilot on the gas valve. Had i known then what i know now, electronic ignition would have been the way to go. I shut down the pilot/gas in the spring and fire it up in the fall. I have learned that once i get the pilot lit (it takes awhile to get the gas from the valve to the pilot and get all the air pushed out) that i need to just leave it on "pilot" for a couple days to get the millivolt generator and thermostat back into a comfortable working relationship. Then i turn the valve to on and use the thermostat to call for heat. If i clicks and i dont get "flame on" i need to do some fiddling with the valve as after months of sitting it acts "stuck". Once i have got it past this, it has been very reliable for heat thru the winter after the seasonal startup glitches

I looked into doing an electronic ignition upgrade so there wouldn't be a pilot light burning. I think the parts were under $300. It would have been a diy project for me but I kind of lost interest.

Bill

 

[easyrider]

Box 1 of 2 arrived today. It is the cabinet. Up close I can tell it's a veneer over mdf product, so fake wood. The item description does say this and it looks pretty good, especially from 5 ft away. The cabinet is smaller than our original custom made solid oak cabinet which took me a couple of days to make. The new cabinet was all of 15 minutes to assemble. Very easy. The new fire place is about eight inches in height shorter and maybe a foot less in depth. I think what makes this look so small is the ceiling height of 20 ft. For an 8 or 9 ft ceiling height this would be a good fit, imo.

I'm thinking we might need new furniture, window trim, blinds, stereo system, rug , paint and other items to make this work, lol.

Bill

 

[Cornell]

I lived many years in a "vintage home". Real wood fireplace. PIA for a whole host of reasons. I'd get a little nervous each fall when I'd open the flue. Fingers crossed that a racoon didn't greet me. But -- when I did entertain, wow people loved that fire. I usually appointed someone to tend to the fire. Poking the logs. Adding a new one. Usually someone was very happy to volunteer for that job. There's always a pyro in every crowd. Of course those same people would enjoy tossing a used cocktail napkin into the fire. My house had a formal , old fashioned floor plan and when I had a fire, people stayed by the fire and avoided congregating in the kitchen which I preferred.

Fast forward, next two houses brand new construction with gas fireplaces that just required a switch flip. Super easy and clean. But it truly is just like background noise. No one really cares but it does provide some cozy warmth.

 

[geist1223]

In our 22+ years together all 3 houses (1928, 1916, 1918 [14.5 years]) have had Wood Burning Fireplaces. Zero wood fires. Currently have an electric Log setup in the Firebox with Blower, which does put out heat.

 

[easyrider]

I lived many years in a "vintage home". Real wood fireplace. PIA for a whole host of reasons. I'd get a little nervous each fall when I'd open the flue. Fingers crossed that a racoon didn't greet me. But -- when I did entertain, wow people loved that fire. I usually appointed someone to tend to the fire. Poking the logs. Adding a new one. Usually someone was very happy to volunteer for that job. There's always a pyro in every crowd. Of course those same people would enjoy tossing a used cocktail napkin into the fire. My house had a formal , old fashioned floor plan and when I had a fire, people stayed by the fire and avoided congregating in the kitchen which I preferred.

Fast forward, next two houses brand new construction with gas fireplaces that just required a switch flip. Super easy and clean. But it truly is just like background noise. No one really cares but it does provide some cozy warmth.

I kind of regret changing the fireplace at the cabin to a wood stove. The stove heats better but the fire has a way better vibe like you described.

Bill

 

[easyrider]

Maybe next year's projects list will include building a new fake fireplace that is taller and wider. Idk if this what we want. There were outlets to charge our devices on top of the fireplace and alot of other nic nacs so the depth into the corner is a problem.

Bill