Do You Have To Clean Chimney With Gas Logs

Vented gas logs generate some soot and carbon just like wood burning fires and can leave deposits in the chimney the same way.

Do you have to clean chimney with gas logs.

These logs are ceramic and painted to look like burning wood logs. Most homeowners are aware of the need for chimney cleaning and inspection if they own a wood burning stove or regularly use their fireplace but many don t realize that a gas heating appliance whether it is a furnace boiler or even a hot water heater also relies on the chimney for proper venting of the exhaust. It is fueled by gas and is often mistaken for wood because the fire looks very much like a wood burning fire and lets out about the same amount of heat. Since they don t require a chimney 100 of the heat produced is circulated back into the room rather than escaping up the chimney.

No you don t need a masonry chimney but for your most efficient gas units you will need a venting system though it does not always require venting through your roof. Gas fireplace chimneys should be inspected and cleaned annually. Vent free gas log fires blue flame fires. Ventless gas logs are designed to achieve a clean smokeless flame so they don t require the use of a chimney and can be used with the damper closed.

The heat output from a yellow flame log set will be similar to the heat output from a comparable sized wood fire. Chimney sweeping is needed to be performed when the smoke cools and forms a resin. A vented gas log display is an alternative to a wood log fire. This resin is called creosote which is formed in the inside walls of the fireplace and the chimney flue.

There will not be any soot or creosote in the chimney since you are not burning wood but you may find bird nests that need to be removed. Natural gas is burnt with balanced or excess oxygen so the burn is complete and you should only produce carbon dioxide and water. These deposits require chimney cleaning just like a real wood fireplace does. The vent free gas products alliance advises consumers to take special care in cleaning vent free fireplaces.

This buildup can be swept off with a soft bristle paint brush. Soot could form from natural gas combustion if the logs are out of place. You will need run a gas line to the new fireplace location and in some cases electricity if you want ambient lighting and or a blower which costs additional time and money to. You might see soot build up from natural gas on the gas logs or the firebox.

Creosote from wood fires is the main reason so no cleaning from that standpoint isn t needed. And soot from unburned evaporated carbon condensing out of the exhaust gasses. To clean out the gas logs turn off the fireplace s pilot light place the logs onto paper outside the fireplace then vacuum up the soot. Don t forget to get your chimney swept annually.