Gas Fireplaces
By Kathryn Whittaker, Fri Dec 9th

No matter where you live, in a townhouse, a lakeside cottage, anurban loft, or a vintage Victorian mansion, there is always aplace for a gas fireplace. Convenient and easy to use, gasfireplaces today offer an abundance of design ideas to suit bothyour lifestyle and the style of your home.

According to the recent statistics, a is one of themost commonly anticipated features in a modern home.Freestanding gas fireplaces deliver radiant heat to any room inyour house – from kitchen to dining room and even bedroom, - oroutdoors, warming your patio or a backyard. Classic terracottafinish or modern and minimalist brushed steel can give a wholenew look to any of your rooms.

Modern fireplaces offer a variety of choices when in comes tofuelling. They may be wood burning, gas- or propane-fuelled, aswell as liquid fuelled. The choice is totally up to you. Do youplan to chop wood, or you opt for a convenience of a gas? Thekind of fuel you choose is a crucial factor in deciding whatkind of to buy. Consider availability and cost, heatefficiency and your local air pollution standards. There arespecial regulations that concern the design, verification andlabeling of gas fireplaces or imported into the North America.

Gas fireplaces are very energy efficient and can even be used toheat a whole house. With a prefabricated duct system heattravels from one room to another, however, not many householdsallow for this unless installed during construction. Gasfireplaces, being very easy to use, can be even turned on with aremote control or by the Internet in the new smart home!Thermostats allow for an easy heat adjustment, and with manyprogrammable features you can also change the flame length andintensity.

Gas fireplaces are fuelled by propane or natural gas. Propanecan be stored in a reservoir on your property, however, it canbe more expensive in the rural areas compared to the wood. Butwith this type of fireplaces, you don’t need a lot of logs tochop and store. In general, gas fireplaces require significantlyless maintenance.

The firebox of the gas is lined with a refractorymaterial that looks like bricks or stones. Instead of blueunappealing flame that most of us expect from the gas, thefireplaces emit completely natural-looking flames that spoutfrom invisible holes in prefabricated ceramic logs. Often theselogs form a realistic pile on the bottom of the firebox. Somepeople prefer the inserts that look like a coal inVictorian-styled fireplaces.

Gas fireplaces are becoming a more and more popular alternativeto conventional built-in fireplaces. Gas fireplaces can be asindividual as you are. They can be framed in wood, finished instucco, stone, or tile, thus fitting into most landscapes andhome design solutions. Gas can become a focal point ofyour backyard or patio, and as any room in your home, an outdoorspace must bear the same design concept as indoors. That is whywhen choosing a you should think about the environmentin which it will be placed and how it will fit with the existingdecor. But no matter which technology or functionality youchoose, it is largely a design and materials that give your newappliance it’s distinctive style and make a design statement.

About the author:Kathryn writes articles on a number of different topics. Formore information about Fireplaces please visit http://www.fireplace-ideas.com and for additional and mantle articles pleasevisit the following page http://www.fireplace-ideas.com/fireplace-articles/