Gel fireplaces are the newest sensation in fireplace technology today. There are numerous benefits that can be gained from using these things. Among them include the ease of installation and the ease of use.
Because of their ventless system, any householder can conveniently place one or more units of gel- based fireplace into their home. These things would have no need to construct a chimney or to fit the vent pipe systems to the house at all. They're quick purchases which you can put inside your home anywhere you please. Such is very specific to the free- standing models. Screwing of the mount bar must be done for the wall-mounted designs, on the other hand, so that they can be safely hung in place. Using them is amazingly easy requiring no respective tedious wood preparations or dreaded cleaning right before and after use.
While the benefits can be amazing, there are drawbacks associated with the use of gel fireplaces. As a user or potential buyer, you need to be aware of the challenges that you are going to face when using these innovative products. Among the typical drawbacks that you'll experience will include a very low heat output, the expensive cost of the gel fuel and the uncertainty of the toxicity of the fumes that they emit.
It is intelligible that when your source of fuel is a small canister of gel you can't actually sense a stronger heat. A gel can only give off 3,000 BTUs. If you have an area of 20x30 ft, that amount of heat is insufficient coming from such thing. In fact, you'll be required a good amount of 15,000 BTUs to adequately warm up the room. Such heat can be easily supplied by a vented model which can give off as much as 25,000 BTUs. Nonetheless, you can somehow enhance your heating needs by using 3 canisters of gel at the same time which can give you as much as 9,000BTUs.
Each canister of gel may only be utilized for 2 1/2-3 hours. If you wish to frequently use your gel fireplaces, then you should be prepared to face the costs of buying your fuel resources. The canisters of gel can be expensive to purchase because you can't easily buy them per piece. You'll have to order 24 cans of them all at once and that would cost you a steep price of $80.
Finally, there's the worry you have to face regarding the possible toxicity of emissions that they can give off. While manufacturers will claim they only produce water vapor, you can't really be sure. Some individuals claim they get headaches from utilizing the gel fuels. In order to curb your fear regarding this matter, you need to couple your use with carbon monoxide detectors as well as oxygen depletion sensors just to be on the safe side.
