Gas, Wood Burning and Electric Fireplaces

Start with the fuel

Every fireplace decision starts with what it burns, because that decides the venting, the installation and how the fire looks.

Natural gas and propane units make up most of this collection. They light from a switch or remote, give steady heat, and many have battery back-up so they still work in a power cut.

Wood burning fireplaces and stoves give a real crackling fire and the most heat per unit, but need a chimney and a place to store logs. Electric fireplaces need only an outlet or a hardwired circuit, produce no combustion, and can go in apartments where gas and wood aren't an option.

Direct vent, vent-free or open

Direct vent gas fireplaces pull air from outside and push exhaust back out through a sealed pipe, usually through a wall. The glass front stays closed, so room air isn't used up and efficiency stays high. Most of the Napoleon, Montigo and White Mountain Hearth units here are direct vent.

Vent-free models, like the Empire Boulevard, need no flue at all, but local codes vary and many states limit them in bedrooms. Open wood burning fireboxes such as the Majestic Biltmore use a traditional masonry or factory-built chimney. Check your local code before you choose.

Width, heat output and room size

Widths run from 36 inches up to 60 inches and beyond for linear models. For a wall-mounted linear unit, a common guide is that the firebox should be roughly a third to half the width of the wall it sits on.

Heat is listed in BTU. A 65,000 BTU wood stove heats around 500 to 1,500 square feet. Larger stoves reach 75,000 to 110,000 BTU and can warm 2,100 to 2,700 square feet.

If you want ambience more than heat, a linear gas fireplace with a lower setting or an electric unit with flame-only mode keeps a room from overheating.

Linear, traditional and see-through

Linear fireplaces are long and low, with a clean face and glass media or crystals instead of logs. They suit modern living rooms and a mounted TV above (check the clearance chart first).

Traditional units have a taller firebox and ceramic logs, and look at home with a stone or wood surround. See-through models such as the Napoleon Vector and the Empire Tahoe open into two rooms at once.

Finishing the wall around it

The fireplace is usually the center of the room, so plan what goes around it. A low run of sideboards on either side gives storage without crowding the hearth.

A large mirror above a non-TV wall bounces firelight back into the room, and our wall mirrors cover sizes for most mantels. Area rugs in front define the seating group; keep them at least 18 inches from an open wood fire.

For heat outside, the outdoor grills and fire pits collection covers patios and decks.