Gas FP vs. Wood-burning FP

I'm for woodburning.

Who wants to cuddle up in front of a glorified stove on a cold winter's night? It's a little like having a DVD of a yule log burning on your TV. Who cares?

At the very least put in a gas log lighter, makes life a whole lot easier.

I agree with spinnaker. If you can have a gas line, put a gas starter in your wood burning fireplace. It is the best of all possible worlds.

Wood burning. Hands down.

i hear that some prefer gas because its cleaner, and less maint over time and less fumes...personally, i love wood burning fp's...dont know, something about starting, tending to the fire, and sitting in front of burning logs that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

i mean what is romantic about sitting in front of a gas stove on a cold night, as topper says..but, i guess to each his own. I dont own a place with a wb fireplace so I cant tell you of the negatives that may come with having one and using one all the time. I only use them when I go away to VT or upstate for a trip, and when I do, I spend an awful lot of time in front of the fireplace

If you want a gas fireplace, just mount a t.v. on the wall and insert a repeating DVD of a real fire. It is even more clean, starts in an instant, and has all the same charm.

Do you guys voting for wbf have one? you will use it less than you think. just think about obtaining wood in nyc, i vote for gas, it will be used more.

We have both. The wb has always been there and a gas fireplace was part of a new addition. Since getting the gas we seldom use the wb. Gas generates warmth (wb unless properly set up actually draws warm air from the room), looks nice, no maintenance, and no soot. Now we only use the wb on a winter night when we have guests.

Obtaining wood in NY is not a problem - places deliver (Dimitri'e) for large and small amounts (neatly bundled) and lots of grocery stores also sell bundles of wood (somewhat more expensive than having a face cord or more delivered, but very convenient)

We do use the fireplace, and usually go through about 30 bundles a season.

And once you know how to build the fire (lay down crumpled newspaper on the grate, put several firestarter sticks across that, some wood on top, then another few sheets of crumpled newspaper - light the top sheets first, to warm the chimney and start an updraft, then light the underneath newspaper - et voila - fire!!) it's pretty easy to start the fire, with or without a gas firestarter.

I have had many of both. My last house had 3 wbf's that had been converted to gas and I changed them all back to wood burning. I have a wbf right now. I use it usually when we have company over or whenever the urge hits. I like the smell, the sound, and that it makes a special occasion even more so. Delivery is as simple as a phone call and I store it on my terrace. A log lighter definitely helps though.

If all I had to do was flip a switch the romance would be gone. Watching gas flame trying to burn through ceramic logs through tempered glass is a lot like watching the yule log channel.

REno09 - one other thing - don't know what floor your apartment is on, but if it is on a high floor you might have a problem with wind, i.e. wind forcing smoke back down the chimney and into the room. We are on a fairly high floor, and there is a fan installed on the roof to keep the updraft going in the chimney and to prevent that possibility.

Gas is emminently more practical. This an apartment, not a log cabin.

This is a penthouse, not a log cabin.

Wb will always be more romantic than gas.

Riversider, our apartment block has well over 100 wood burning fireplaces. We all wear deerskin moccasins and hunt wabbit in the park. You haven't lived if you've never had our reservoir mallard l'orange.

Spin - LMAO!!!

I think for charm and resale value, it's WBF.

For heating, efficiency, convenience, it's gas.

the deciding factor. do marshmallows taste different when toasted on gas burning?

I also find a WBF much more attractive and would never opt for gas. Having said that, burning wood generates several 1000 times more small particle pollution than a gas-burning FP. This is not hyperbole but based on studies I read a few years ago. I do not know whether part of that dust also enters the house / apartment during normal operation. A December issue of The New Yorker had a story about wood-burning stove design, touching on the horrible health implications of wood smoke.

No one has mentioned operational cost factor of gas vs wood....minimal?

Let me just add that personally a WBF is a negative to _me_ but I think I'm in the minority there. A GBF would be neutral.

I’ve never heard it mentioned here or elsewhere, but can you install a wood-burning stove in a NYC apartment? If so, that would be the hands-down winner. Fireplaces are massively inefficient and polluting. Modern wood stoves heat very, very well, burn wood extremely efficiently, and filter particulate matter to cut down on pollution. They’re also very attractive.

wellheythere - there is an alternative to a woodburning stove for people who want a fireplace but also want to use it for heating. It's a fireplace insert, which has glass doors, often a blower to put the heat into the room. They can be very good looking, and with the glass doors you still see the flames, wood burns down to a very, very fine ash, definitely heats a room (we had 23 foot ceilings in the country LR, and it worked), and also can leave fire burning after you go to sleep (though we do that in our city apartment because we have a good mesh firescreen).

Installed one years ago in a country house which had a fireplace.

"I agree with spinnaker. If you can have a gas line, put a gas starter in your wood burning fireplace. It is the best of all possible worlds."

Because striking a match is SUCH a hassle ...

NYCMatt -typical snotty comment from you. You obviously don't have a fireplace- it's more than just striking a match to start a fire - but how would you know that?

"We do use the fireplace, and usually go through about 30 bundles a season. And once you know how to build the fire (lay down crumpled newspaper on the grate, put several firestarter sticks across that, some wood on top, then another few sheets of crumpled newspaper - light the top sheets first, to warm the chimney and start an updraft, then light the underneath newspaper - et voila - fire!!) it's pretty easy to start the fire, with or without a gas firestarter."

Am I the only one who used Dura-Flame logs?

One log. That's all it takes. And the paper wrapper is its own kindling. Literally, all you had to do was strike a match and *voila!* -- a fire in the fireplace for a good 4 hours. No poking, stoking, etc. And they're cleaner burning than regular wood logs.

NYCMatt - it's ersatz - like you.

Well, it's more real than cuddling up in front of a gas stove -- er -- "fireplace".

There's something irresistible about the Dow Chemical aroma of a good Dura Flame fire.

Matt, you're also the only one who eats Velveeta.

Anyway, back to the original question:

1. there is absolutely nothing more charming and romantic than leaning back in your barcolounger and pressing the buttons on your remote control to make the flames go higher and lower. Try doing that with wood, and the flames of romance just die out. Well, after a few hours anyway.

2. keep in mind that (unless you're a certain downtown RE broker who lives uptown) your apartment will already be heated to about 98 degrees in the shade, so you better hope that your WBF is as inefficient as wellheythere indicates.

Thanks to everyone for your input! I appreciate all the useful info and really enjoy reading the witty banter. :)

"Matt, you're also the only one who eats Velveeta."

Bitch.

I stand by my Dura-Flame logs. They even come in a "crackling" variety, and for the holidays, have logs that burn in COLORED flames! Soooo cool to have a GREEN fire during a Christmas party!

Or you can just put an empty copper-bottomed pot on the stove, crank it up to the highest flame, and watch the beautiful green flames (until you pass out from the noxious fumes).

Or, equally noxious but more easier and more funner, adjust the tint and hue on your teevee and put in your Yule Log videotape (Beta or VHS -- your choice)

Actually, ALAN, I like to use this on my television set, for fun and funky party lighting:

http://www.coolbuzz.org/images/groovetube.jpg

MATT, you're a party animal.

Such a party aminal, in fact, that MATT has his own mini disco set: http://www.amazon.com/DISCO-Mirror-Spotlight-Rotating-Beacon/dp/B00011PMA6?t

I have a fireplace and love to use it on a cold winter's night.

As regards duralogs - I'm not a fan. It's like watching a candle burn. Who cares?

A real fire is not about efficiency but experience. It's about the making, tending, sounds, smell, glow, heat, memories, sharing, history, and connecting with nature.

...and romance.

Oh Alan.

Keep spinning those K-Tel albums!

And the fun that happens when it's supercold outside and you don't preheat the flue.

Taking this conversation in a different direction - does anybody know whether it's legal to have a chiminea (like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Well-Traveled-CICA-Aztec-Chiminea/dp/B000JKJ25A ) on a setback roof terrace? My across-the-yard neighbor has one on her setback terrace but I've never seen her use it. Logically, you would think that the same rules that apply to barbequeing apply here, but I can't find reference to chimineas or fire pits on the FDNY web site.

I believe the regulations discuss "open fires" or "open flames" or some such term.

http://www.electricfireplacesdirect.com/products-accessories/plug-in-electric-fireplaces/Electric-Plug-In-CF-18EF010GAA

I'd be shocked if the fire codes allowed something like this.

At the very least, I'm sure most co-op boards wouldn't allow it.

NYCMatt, you still have to strike the match. There is more to building a good fire than just lighting it. Once the wood has caught sufficiently, you turn the gas off and have a nice wood fire. It is extremely efficient and much less smokey in the beginning when you really need to get the draft going up the flu.

"NYCMatt, you still have to strike the match."

Right. And that takes SOOOO much time and effort.

Just like DIALING a telephone.

Let's say two people are the "deciders" in whether to buy the apt. One of the deciders will secretly prefer gas-powered burn logs (they are pretty convincing and realistic these days, and they are so, so, so much CLEANER and EASIER), and the other decider won't really care very much.
I feel gas logs have a slight edge.

i prefer whatever matt dislikes. just because.

AH: you are welcome to share the romance in front of our very hedonistic WBFP.

Matt: I like crackers with Velveeta and good coffee in front of a WBFP on a cold winter's night. Yum.

As the SouthPark Chef would say:

I'm Gonna make love to you woman
Gonna lay ya down by the fire
And caress your womanly bod-ay
Make you moan and perspire
I'm gonna get those juices flowing
Making Love Gravy, Love Gravy, Love Gravy
Love, Love, Love..

I'm gonna make love to you, woman
Gonna lay you down by the fire..
And caress your womanly body
Make you moan and perspire..
I'm gonna get those juices flowing
Making Love Gravy, Love Gravy, Love Gravy
Love, Love, Love! Ooh-ee..
Open up a packet of my gravy..
Baby it's burning just for you..
Would you like another helpin' of my gravy?
Baby say yeah.. [yeah yeah yeah]

and that was a wood burning fire

It turns out that it may be illegal in NY to have a gas starter in the fireplace. Has anyone heard about or know anything about this?

Probably because most have no electronic ignition so a gas/explosion hazard. If I were to put one in it would have an electronic ignition. Not sure if this satisfies the nyc fire code though. In my mind this config is no different than a ceramic log gas unit, which is legal.

Fire! We have fire! And it is lovely. No gas ignition, just fire cubes.

I was told by an appraiser (although, it was not in NY) that gas fireplaces add ZERO to the value of a home. I questioned it, and he said WB would add about $3k (for the most basic fireplace), and gas would add absolutely nothing. That seemed odd to me, but he said that was common practice.

Fire is still lovely. I've had it burning every night since I got it working again. Spinny: where do you get your firewood?