ᐅ How to supply gas to a gas fireplace?

We want to have a fireplace in our house. From the beginning, we planned a traditional wood-burning fireplace. Since it will be a KfW55 house with mechanical ventilation, the last stove fitter we consulted strongly recommended a gas fireplace instead.

Basically, he made some valid points, and we are seriously considering choosing a gas fireplace now.

My question is how to supply gas to the fireplace. Essentially, I see two options.

• Have a gas line installed from the street into the house and connect the fireplace directly. However, we will have a heat pump ventilation system, so the gas connection would only be for the fireplace. I don’t have any prices yet, but I expect it won’t be cheap to have the connection installed inside the house. What I’m also wondering about is the gas tariff. I would essentially be a small consumer. How much gas does a fireplace typically use over a year? Can you even get a contract with a supplier for that? Does it make sense with the fixed charges?
• I’m thinking of placing gas bottles, about 33 liters (are those the largest available?), behind the garage and pipe the gas from there to the fireplace in the living room. Is this cost-effective? How long does one bottle last? Do you replace them yourself, or do you get deliveries? What are the costs involved with this bottle option?

Maybe someone has a gas fireplace and can share some insights about these options.

I’m not familiar with gas fireplaces. But why, or based on which arguments, did your stove fitter advise against a wood-burning fireplace? You’re not the first person who wants to combine that with a ventilation system.

By now, this is probably more of a standard practice...

By the way, the option with the gas cylinder is, in my opinion, unlikely to be approved by the chimney inspector.

This is a bit off-topic now, but I’ll try to explain briefly.

In our case, the fireplace is going to be built into an exterior wall, dividing the living room and dining room. We don’t want to use the fireplace for heating, but for ambiance. The problem will probably be that with the KfW55 building standard, it will get too warm. The wood fireplace needs to be filled with the correct amount of wood for its specific combustion chamber. Otherwise, the wood won’t burn properly, the necessary heat won’t develop in the combustion chamber, and the glass panels will get very sooty. In other words, we would need to choose a very small combustion chamber, which wouldn’t look good for such a large fireplace as a room divider. Another issue for us would be the chimney pipe, which would have to protrude very far out of the roof and look quite unattractive.

Advantages of a gas fireplace:

• we can have a significantly larger combustion chamber because the fire can be controlled almost instantly at the push of a button
• from a design perspective, much nicer options are possible since the fireplace can be free-standing and doesn’t require a bulky structure
• no need to prepare or deliver wood
• no mess from ashes
• no fine dust emissions
• the glass panels don’t get sooty and only need cleaning 1-2 times per year
• there is a flame for the entire burn time (wood burns quickly, then no flame but heat remains for hours)
• the chimney pipe would only extend about 1 meter (3 feet) out of the roof and look discreet
• the chimney sweep only needs to perform measurements every two years and doesn’t have to climb on the roof to clean a pipe
• no pressure monitor is needed, which otherwise would be required due to kitchen extract hoods and controlled residential ventilation
• the fireplace can theoretically be integrated into my KNX bus system

I’m sure I’ve forgotten something. Basically, there are almost only advantages.
The main “disadvantages” for me are:

• for me, “making the fire” is part of the experience. That would be missing. Although after a few years, you might even appreciate that
• you have to handle gas. But that shouldn’t be a problem these days

Alright, now the reasons are easier to understand.

But I would quickly dismiss the "gas cylinder option," especially since you have 33 liters (about 7 gallons) * 6.8 kW = 224 kW heating value in one cylinder. You would have to change them often if you also use the fireplace.

If a gas bottle contains 224 kWh and the fireplace, let’s say, uses 8 kW, that would mean the fireplace could run for 28 hours. Is that correct?

I assume a gas fireplace is turned on more often than a wood-burning fireplace because it’s simply less effort—just press a button. So it probably burns a few hours most days during winter. Let’s say about 6 hours a day. Then the bottle wouldn’t last even a week with daily use. Hmm, it really depends on how you use it and whether it makes sense to have a gas connection installed.

Alternatively, a large tank could be buried in the garden. But then I’d always need someone to come and refill the tank. Honestly, I don’t find that option very appealing either.

Tricky, tricky...

Edit:
I think I miscalculated something. That can’t be right. If price comparison calculators say a two-person household needs about 3,500 kWh per year for heating, then a gas fireplace that’s only used occasionally in winter can’t consume that much.

Hello,
I hadn’t heard of gas fireplaces before, but they actually sound quite interesting...!
Only you can really answer the question about costs. Connecting a gas supply will probably cost you around 1500–2000 € (euros) in addition to the other utility connections. Of course, that could buy you quite a few gas bottles. Another question is whether the gas fireplace is cheaper or more expensive than a conventional one.
In very cold weather, you might experience issues with gas supply from the bottle, which is why the LPG mixture is adjusted more towards butane in winter.
Propane gas has a heating value of 12.8 kWh/kg. A fireplace with a typical heat output of 6 kW will therefore consume about 0.5 kg of gas per hour. So, the bottle will need to be replaced every 65 hours.

The “problem” of the house getting too warm when the fireplace is running is common in any modern home. Most neighbors here also open a window when lighting the fire.

Best regards,

Andreas