Converting Gas Logs back to Wood Burning

[Guest walkingdeadman]

Hey folks, my wife and I bought our house about 4 years ago and the homeowner before us had converted the wood burning fireplace to gas burning. After using it a couple times, we have decided that we hate it. My question does anyone have any experience with capping these things off and if so what is the correct way to go about it? I am wanting to do this asap, especially since the holidays are here and it would be nice to have an authentic fire going for the family. Please help if you can. I can post pics of what I have if need be. Thanks,Roy

[56FordGuy]

Is it simply a set of gas logs installed in an existing fireplace, or a gas log insert installed into a fireplace?

[Guest walkingdeadman]

how do i know the difference?

[MudBugjr]

Does it have a chimney? it so cap the gas line outside coming into the house and remove the logs. I would suggest a chimney sweep check it out before you burn your first fire. Unless it looks clean and its not to old. Don't want to burn the house down or find out they blocked a chimney to add ventless logs. Ventless logs just sit in a box that doesnt have a hole going to the outside.

[Guest PeaShooter]

I have converted my fireplace to using a vent-less gas log unit and have been way more than satisfied. Much better than feeding wood into a fireplace.

In the past I had a Big Buck fireplace insert. The insert worked well for heating our home but feeding the wood has a whole lot of issues.

One is BUGS. Once wood is inside the home, out they come.

Under the bark holds so many, and the variety you get.

Wife REALLY loved that!

So outside the house we stored the wood.

Nothing like going out at 2:00 AM to get wood out of a warm bed.

Get a vent-less set of gas logs that use no electricity and use a thermocouple for a thermostat control. Set it and forget it.

Power goes out this log just keeps working.

Mine gas logs heat my whole house. Nice and warm.

Our heat pump never came on the first year.

Nice surprise and real warm heat,

not like the cool heat you get from heat pumps.

[Guest walkingdeadman]

Well the gas logs does have a vent that I can open and shut that goes up into the chimney. Also it has some type of key in the wall next to the fireplace that I turn the gas on and off at. And from what I can tell it only has one little pipe that runs from the wall into the actual gas logs. I am hoping this is an easy fix.

The wife and I just really don't like the gas smell along with the fact that it just doesn't have that real wood smell or the crackel that comes along with burning real logs. Once I get it done, now all I will have to do is go cut me a tree down out of my neighbors back yard...ha.

[56FordGuy]

Before you start burning wood, you need to have it checked out. Check to see if you have a wood stove dealer around that could come look at it for you. If it's a gas system, you could have the wrong flue and the wrong type of firebox to burn wood. The firebox for a gas insert is made of sheet metal and is not designed for the heat of a wood fire, due to the lack of firebrick.

If you're serious about heating with wood, look into getting a wood stove. They're far more efficient than open fireplaces, and usually more efficient than wood burning inserts.

[Farman]

We had the same dilemma when we bought our house. It had a woodburning fireplace, but not really knowing the quality of the chimneys construction, we changed it out to a vented gas log system. This is not efficient at all. Sending heat and money out the chimney.

After doing some research we had a pellet stove insert installed. So far it seems very efficient and warms the downstairs in a very short time. It has its own stainless steel pipe that goes up the chimney, so there's very low heat in the old chimney.

No hauling, cutting and chopping wood. Very little ash after burning the pellets.

Down side... a little expensive to get started, but cheaper than gas.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Farman
addition

[oldogy]

Oh, this old man does like the sound and smell of a nice fire in the big fireplace. I have lots of good hardwood for harvest on my place and enjoy splitting the wood by hand.

I talked with a couple folks about getting a wood burning insert and both told me that they have sold wood burning inserts and then a few or several years later wind up selling the same folks a gas burning log set....."Folks tend to dislike the work and dirt associated with burning wood after a while."

So as long as the DW and I enjoy it and as long as I am able I'll stay with the open, inefficient wood burning fireplace. I can see the conversion to gas years down the pike.

Yeah, as suggested to the OP, I would have the chimney inspected and cleaned by a competent chimney person before burning a wood fire therein.

oldogy

Edited December 7, 2009 by oldogy

[Hidalgo]

Not going to be a LOT of help here, because our fireplaces are bare at this moment. In the past, there WAS a gas log set in there because the pipe is in place and capped off. There is evidence that this was done at one time and that a real fire was burned afterwards. (some soot and ash residue) It appears to me that there was nothing done except to cap off the gas pipe and turn off the gas to the fireplace with the "key" that you referred to. All that said, I would strongly suggest that you consult a gas log installer before you do anything.

[hardknox00001]

I would look into using that gas line for some sort of fire starter for your wood logs. Might take a little research and work to make it happen but, for example, my parents have an open fire place that a gas line has been run to. The orfice/nozzle/apperatus (I don't know what it is cause I have never uncovered it and looked) is in the bottom of the fire place under the fire dogs. They stack the first logs, turn on the gas, light gas, when logs catch good, turn gas off. No newspaper and kindling required. Nothing like driving around and enjoying the wood fire smell MMMMMMMMMM.

I will also say that proper examination of the chimney is a must for safety before first use.

edit: This was not a conversion, the fireplace was originally designed in the fashion as described above.

Edited December 7, 2009 by hardknox00001
additional clarification

[Bubba0031]

I concur with Hidalgo regarding getting a professional opinion. Safety is more important than ascetics.

I have a wood stove insert and burn it most of the winter. For some strange reason I like cutting wood but I don't know how many more years of cutting my knees and back have left. Most people claim it saves money but I suspect by the time I have the chimmney cleaned, pay for chain saws, rent a log spiltter,keep a pickup truck and count my time it would probably be cheaper to just use the the gas pack.

[56FordGuy]

Just got done putting more wood in the stove here.

Pictures would give a better impression of what we're dealing with. It's possible that your house originally had a wood burning fireplace that was later converted to gas. If that's the case, you may be able to switch back to wood fairly easily. In any event, get it checked out by a pro. Even if we could positively ID it as a wood burner, we can't tell you about the actual condition of the rest of the system. Find a local stove store or chimney sweep.

That said, I just like burning wood. It sounds like the OP just wants a nice weekend fire, not a new heating source. Using wood for primary heat is a ton (literally) of work, and can cost a bunch of money on the front end. You can get by with one saw, a pickup truck and an 8lb maul. On the other end, you can have tractors and dump trucks and hydraulic processors that cut and split whole logs onto conveyors into the truck. Labor reduction is the name of the game. If you paid yourself for your time, it would be hard to come out ahead. Equipment helps, but then you have to buy, maintain, and fuel it.

To me, it's worth it. For some reason, I just enjoy it. I even enjoy the work that goes into it, to a point. It's nice to open the electric bill in the winter months and find that it's gone down from the summer, too.