Gas fireplaces (new home, heat pump, purchasing)

[tiggeerrific]

I was wondering if anyone owns a gas fireplace and do you use it? We will be retiring and purchasing a home very soon and making a list .

[SCtoLongIsland]

We do. It puts out a lot of heat. Plus, I love fireplaces. That was one must have on my list when I built. My last house didn’t have one, and I missed having one.

[tiggeerrific]

Thank you!added it to my wants! Coming down in February for a month hoping to find a new home

[Charlie&Rose]

We had wanted a fireplace for years. I t was one of the requirements when house hunting. We have used it only a handful of times in five years. To me, gas fireplaces, are for a lack of a better word.....boring, same flame all the time. No crackling of the wood, no smell of the fire, that warms you. It is however, more convenient, just flip a switch. I can do that with just my furnace. I guess you just won`t know until you have one....you may love yours!

[CTyankee54]

We did not have one installed when we built our house and now wish we had for those nights when the temps dip down into the 20's. The heat pump is not efficient below 30 and struggles to maintain the house temp when outside temps drop below that point. It has to turn on the supplemental heat bars and that's the same as heating the house with baseboard electric...very expensive. Heat pumps do not really pump out really warm air...even on the coldest nights, the air feels about the same temp as the room temp when it comes out of the registers.



So, my recommendation is to pay the extra bucks and have one installed if you build a house. You won't use it all the time but when you do, you'll be glad you have it. And, yes, I agree with marcandme, that they are boring but here they are purely functional to supplement the heat pump.

[tiggeerrific]

Thank you CTyankee54 we stayed a month in oceanlakes 2 winters ago and we froze as the pump froze up. So what you posted makes a lot of sense. I have a gas fireplace in my current home and love it. And we use it everyday to take the chill out of the room. I was wondering if it was really needed in the south but you answered my question perfectly.

[Retire in MB]

During the winter I use mine about 2 or 3 nights a week. It puts out just that extra bit of warmth that makes the living room cozy on cold nights. Also the cats love to curl up in front of it.

[SCtoLongIsland]

I love ours. With the house I built here, I had to go a tank that gets refilled as needed. I did pay to have the tank buried. I’m reallt glad I have it.