New fireplace..... (heat, natural gas, glass, cost)

[Latina7]

Originally, I had a base made on the side of the house to put a wood fireplace, but as I began to watch the winds during the winter, I thought that the place I had planned to put it would make the rest of the house too, too cold. So, I have changed my plans, and

I just bought a new fireplace. It is all made of double glass, and metal, and runs via gel. I am so happy with it. It is just perfect for us.... and we saved LOTS of money....

[blazerj]

Does the gel actually produce heat, or is it more for looks?

[Latina7]

Originally Posted by blazerj

Does the gel actually produce heat, or is it more for looks?

It produces heat much better, if you have three cans going at the same time........

[thecoalman]

and we saved LOTS of money....

Saved lots of money on what? I'm not familiar with the gel but have done some similar calculations on the alcohol which I would assume is similar. The cost to use as heat source is so ridiculously high they are only good for ornamental value.

Do you have a link to the gel product with cost?

Edit: never mind

Fireglo Gel Fuel - 13 Oz Cans (24 Pack) : Target

• Each can burns approximately 2.5–3 hrs.
• FireGlo is produced with isopropyl alcohol, organic thickeners and H2O
• There is no methanol or MEK based products in FireGlo
• Includes 24 cans (13-oz. each)
• Energy Output: 3000 BTU/Hour

If each can is burning 3 full hours that is 9000 BTU's, multiply by 24 and you get 216,000 BTU's for the $95. The cost per million BTU is somewhere around $450

That's A LOT. It depends on your local rates but the cost for wood or natural gas is going to be somewhere around $15 per million BTU, it's that much of a difference.