Installing gas logs in your hearth is a great way to create more fuel efficiency and create ease of use with your fireplace. Gas log sets are available in both vented and ventless options. Vented logs offer a full flame experience while ventless logs require no ventilation, as the name suggests, but provide much more heat in the home. Here are a few of the pros and cons of choosing vented gas logs over ventless.

PROS

Authentic Aesthetic

Vented log fireplaces have the more authentic look of a wood fire than ventless logs. The reason for this is that a vented system allows the flame and the wood to touch. Vented logs also typically include an authentic-looking bed of embers that glows just like hot coals in a wood-burning fireplace. With a ventless system, the logs and the flame cannot be touching in order to avoid unwanted exhaust and soot buildup. 

Safer

The venting system with vented logs provides additional safety that isn't available with a ventless system. The vented system ensures that any byproduct from fuel combustion—whether from propane or natural gas—is extracted from the home and vented outside. Although ventless gas logs burn cleaner with fewer byproducts, any byproducts that do exist will enter the home. Anyone with respiratory conditions may be affected by any trace amounts of vapors that are allowed to enter the home.

Less Heat

If you live in a warm climate and wish to have the beauty of a live flame without additional heat, ventless gas logs are perfect. In addition to removing any vapors from combustion, the venting system also moves heat.

CONS

Must Have A Chimney

Vented gas logs require a venting system, and that typically means you must have a functional chimney with a working flue in order to vent out all byproducts of combustion. Because of this, the damper must stay open at all times while the logs are functioning.

Less Heat

What is an advantage in warm climates is a disadvantage in the cold. Because the damper must be open while your vented logs are functioning, there is a significant amount of heat loss in the process. If you desire your gas logs to function as a heat source, ventless logs are typically a better option. Vented gas logs are best as a gathering place and aesthetic. Ventless logs are a much better option for homes in colder climates that need heat.

Keep these tips in mind when looking for gas log sets from local suppliers.