You Have Questions? We Have Answers!

Start with these three questions:

• Where do you want your fireplace located?
• What are the desired functions and design of your fireplace?
• What is your budget?

From there, Fireplaces by Weiss-Johnson can assist you in finding the right fireplace for your needs.

Here are three different types of fireplaces: insert, zero-clearance, and free-standing.

• Insert: A natural gas fireplace insert is designed to be installed in an existing fireplace opening, which creates an economical, cleaner-burning, and more efficient heat source. Inserts have a metal housing with a glass front and realistic-looking ceramic logs. The masonry chimney is used as a passage for the new chimney liner and vent. Inserts are most often gravity-vented, but some direct-vent inserts are available.
• Free-standing. These self-contained units come in a variety of styles, including hearth or wall-mounted units, as well as fireplace stoves. Free-standing fireplaces can be vented through an existing chimney, through a B-vent metal chimney, horizontally through the wall, or vertically through the roof.
• Zero-clearance. These fireplaces are self-contained metal housings with realistic-looking logs. They are built-in with ‘zero-clearance to combustibles’ – meaning no space is needed between the unit and any combustible materials, such as wood or wallboards. These units are for installation where there is no masonry fireplace. They are often directly vented through the wall or roof, rather than through an expensive masonry chimney.

A chimney is not always required…but an appropriate form of venting is! Natural gas fireplaces can be direct-vented through the wall or roof, and if an existing masonry chimney exists it can be used – it just may need to be relined with a stainless steel liner to meet venting requirements.

These terms refer to how a gas appliance takes in the air it needs to burn gas.

• Direct vent models refer to how a fireplace draws combustion air from the outdoors and returns the combustion exhaust back to the outside of the house – eliminating the need for a standard chimney system. A glass panel in direct vent models is critical for keeping the combustion system sealed from the home, thus maintaining high efficiency and indoor air quality.
• B-Vent modeled fireplaces draw the combustion air from inside the home and vent combustion exhaust to the outdoors.

BTU’s (British Thermal Units) are a standard of measurement that represent the heat value of any type of energy used to create heat. The amount of fuel that a fireplace will consume per hour is calculated with the BTU value of that particular fuel.

BTU values of any type of energy are determined by the actual amount of heat required to increase the temperature of one pound of water, by one degree Fahrenheit.

Fireplace Efficiency (FE) measures the energy efficiency of vented glass fireplaces. The higher the percentage, the more energy efficient the model is. Look for a fireplace with an EnerGuide rating of 50 to 70 per cent.

There are two options to control the heat:

1. An adjustable heat setting. When available, this feature can be found as a dial directly on the fireplace. The dial allows you to turn the flame up or down, adjusting the temperature.
2. A thermostat. Similar to the way a furnace functions, thermostats keep the space around the fireplace at the temperature you choose. The fireplace will turn on and off as required to maintain the desired room warmth.

All natural gas fireplaces sold in Canada are certified to an approved CSA safety standard that includes requirements for safely shutting-down if loss of flame occurs. Starting in January 2015, all fireplaces have a mandatory safety screen to reduce the risk of burns.