******Thermostat or wall switch for gas fireplace*******

[TheCouchCruncher]

I'm installing a gas fireplace and was wondering if it is better to use a wall switch to turn it on or use a thermostat? I would imagine that with a thermostat it must be constantly going on and off all the time. Please let me know your experience with each.

We purchased the smallest unit like 35,000btu, can be cut back to like

10,000btu. It is not over sized for the area, large room that opens up to another room, no door way just wide open. The guy that sold it to us said basically before it really gets cold cut back the btu to a low flame and when it gets cold crank it up. I can kind of relate because when I had a wood stove before the new year we couldn't really crank the stove on most days. After the 1st of the year when it got really cold it never got uncomfortable in the house. I also have a cold air return in the room that I was also thinking of turning on the furnace blower to get rid of some of the hot air if it got too uncomfortable. My point I guess it that I think it is sized for the area and if I move the air a bit with a ceiling fan and the furnace I was hoping that we could keep it lit all the time. What do you think.

[Art]

They make remote controls with thermostats so you can put it any where in the room. Also I assume this is some kind of insert. Make sure it has ceramic glass which is far better than tempered glass. It can take much more heat.

[EL]

With a SPDT center-off switch and a little ingenuity, you can have your cake and eat it too!

Incoming hot wire connects to common terminal of switch. Switch terminal that connects to common in "position 1" goes to fireplace hot wire. Switch terminal that connects to common in "position 2" goes to thermostat. Other wire from thermostat also connects to fireplace hot. Fireplace neutral connects to incoming line neutral.

When switch is in center position ("off"), fireplace will not run. When switch is in position 1 ("on"), fireplace runs continuously. When switch is in position 2 ("thermostat" or "auto"), fireplace runs only when thermostat calls for heat.

Naturally make sure the switch and thermostat are rated for the load - in particular you'll probably want a thermostat that's rated to control a 120 VAC device.

Eric Law

[Greg O]

Use a simple thermostat, like a Honeywell T87. If you want it to run constantly, just turn it all the way up! If you want it off, set the stat to the low end, I think it is 45F. If you leave it set at 45F the fireplace will come on if your furnce fails, and keep your house from freezing if you are not around. You can set it at 70F and it will run as needed to heat the area.

Keep in mind that most gas fireplaces are not as efficiant as a typical gas furnace. It probably will cost you more money to heat with the fireplace than your furnace. Run the fireplace because you like to watch it burning, not as a primary source of heat. Greg

[Gini]

==== We have a gas firplace that we use for our primary heat. We have a two story 6 year old house w/the fireplace in the first floor living room. The fireplace is appx. 25k btu to 41k btu (oversized for our 1350 +/- sq ft.) and we cannot leave it on all the time. In fact, our house is well insulated and our gas bill runs from 250.00 to 400.00 per season for the firplace. In our case, it is very cheap heat (in PA) but, it must be turned off and on. Until January, I light it only for a short while in the morning and evening. Only on the very coldest days do I leave it on for hours at a time and when that happens, it really uses the gas.

[TheCouchCruncher]

Thanks guys. I forgot to mention that the thermostat needs to be a milivolt accepting thermostat. I'll have to check if that one can do milivolt. The fireplace unit I have I think is more efficiant than my furnace. I think my furnace is around 85% and I think the gas fire place was either 86 or 89. It is a unit that uses the outside air to to burn. I was thinking about turning the thermostat way up to have the best of both worlds. Fred

[Art]

Sounds like a good insert fireplace but still make sure it has ceramic glass and not tempered.

[TheCouchCruncher]

yes art it is ceramic thanks fred

[Greg O]

Just a word of caution! Gas fireplaces are not tested with the same standards as gas furnaces. In my opinion, most fireplace manufacturers are pretty liberal with there claims of efficiancy. Run is as you want, your gas bill will let you know in the end! Greg

[John Galbreath Jr.]

Look here at the Skytech 3301. It is a handheld remote thermostat. It can be set to ON - Thermostat - Off. It will do what you are looking for.

Note: This is my commercial web site: