Ours really makes the room warm.
@jshain - I did not say that. 
I’ve got ones with a pilot, and the electronic ignition. I prefer the electronic one. The pilot is a pain to re-light if you turn it off, and the electronic ignition ones work fine, once you’ve attempted enough ignitions to make sure the gas is making it up through the pipes.
I can’t claim to be an expert, but it seems to me that a “manual” system with just a valve and manual ignition isn’t likely to be up to code. If your fire goes out, there is nothing to turn off the gas without a pilot and thermocouple.
My apologies BunsenBurner. You were quoting TatinG.
@TatinG Gas fireplaces that have outside convection air can be quite efficient. It really depends, but sometimes turning the heat on in the only room you are using at the moment may make more sense than heating the entire house. Or you may have one room that for one reason or another doesn’t get quite as warm as the other rooms in a house and the gas fireplace will help you not overheat the rest of the house.
Put gas fire logs have a pilot…and a switch. We just flip the switch.
thumper1, What brand is yours? We love the convenience of just flipping a switch on our Artisan FPX.
Brand? Honestly, I have NO idea! But it sure is easy to,light. The switch is right next to the logs…in the fireplace.
I doubt many people have fireplaces these days for primary heating, central heat is a lot more efficient, but that isn’t the point, having a fire in a room, whether gas or wood, makes it seem cheerier on cold, gloomy days. Fireplaces that have their own outside air source are a lot more efficient than fireplaces did in the past (it is one of the reason fireplaces were inefficient, they take in room air to burn, and that takes heated air out of the room and puts it up the chimney. That said, though, I think fireplaces are more for the effect than being an efficient heat source, and they can act as an emergency heat source if power goes out for the rooms you are in.
We just had two installed into our two sided fireplaces. The one in my bedroom I put in the crushed glass two level that is really pretty. Traditional birch looking logs in the family room.
We have a remote control. I love the coziness of a fireplace. Today our power went out for some reason for a few hours, the fireplace stayed on which is nice when it’s cold outside.
We have a gas insert in our old wood-burning traditional fireplace.
It has a pilot light and a manual ignition (kind of like what’s on a gas BBQ). Given the number of power outages we get, being able to heat a large room without relying on electricity or the gas furnace is important to us.
@zeebamom lies is like yours.
@musicprnt not sure your comment above. Our generation FP heats up our downstairs very nicely. Nothing like the old wood burning one where most of the heat went up the chimney.
@TatinG said:
Totally disagree. Ours heats up our family room quite nicely. It REALLY came in handy when we lost power during an ice storm. The rest of the time, we do it as much for ambiance as we do for heat.
Our fireplace is a masonry, wood burning fireplace; inside it is a metal bar with holes in it through which gas can flow when turned on manually. Its purpose is to aid in lighting the real logs. We had gas logs installed into the fireplace, so now have no need for wood. It has a pilot light and a manual switch. It also has capability for total manual operation with a key that is installed into the hearth. You turn the key, and gas begins to flow, then you can light it with a firestarter.
Our family home had three fireplaces like the one described above. I miss having them, especially the one in the Master bedroom. If we ever build again, we will have several throughout the house again. Living in Texas, we don’t have a need for them every night in the winter months, but we really enjoy them on the occasions that we use them.
@thumper1:
With modern fireplaces, they can heat up the area they are in nicely, what I meant was that most people these days have fireplaces, whether wood burning or gas, for the ‘coziness factor’ rather than as a primary heat source, which was in response to the post that said central heat is more efficient…modern gas, and even wood ones, can heat up a room quite nicely, there are glass doors put out by companies like Heatolator with a heat exchanger and fan that can put out a lot of heat even with an older fireplace, and so forth…I just meant that I think most people have fireplaces to enjoy the light of the fire and the coziness it brings to the room rather than relying on it as an efficient source of heating (even if the modern ones are pretty efficient).
Got a little chilled, so just turned on my fireplace.
I use my gas fire every night in the winter. When I use it I can turn the heat in the house down so the effect on the gas bill is nil. I love it and, more importantly, so do the cats.
@Wellspring, my cat loves it too. In fact, she just curled up next to me. Now if someone would magically appear with a glass of cabernet, I’d be in perfect harmony.
A fireplace is very efficient if it is vent-free system (flue closed during operation). I have two fireplaces and I have vent-free gas logs in both of them. I seldom turn on my furnace because both fireplaces keep my home warm. I vented gas log set or woodburning fireplace means the flue must be open during operation. With these the heat goes straight out of the chimney. Both of my units have hand operated pilot lights. I am in the market for remote operated vent free log set because my mom is 81 and the hand operated ones confuse her. If you have a vented gas log set I strongly suggest you get a vent free unit and keep that heat inside your home.
Before buying a ventless (vent-free) gas fireplace, please research their effect on indoor air quality. Some states no longer allow them to be installed.
We (unfortunately) have three ventless fireplaces in our home, which we do not use. The owner’s manuals for them states that it’s necessary to open a window in the room in which the fireplace is used in order to provide adequate make-up air. The only time I’d do that is if the weather was mild and dry enough so that we were only using the ventless fireplace for ambiance during a party and could have the french doors open.
This reminds me, I just checked my carbon monoxide monitors and the expiration date on them was 2012 (installed 2007). I’m headed out to lowe’s today to get new ones.