Propane fireplace fire starter heating water instead of wood?

You'd have to make a shelf or hoot.

Anything that burns and is not toxic. in India, cow dung is often used. Dry it out first. Near a stable? Horse manure would work too. Usually free if you haul it.

I was taught to take some newspapers and mush them up in the shape of a torch, then light them and hold them in the flue, in the flue itself, and as they burned, they started a draft that went up the chimney and would continue with the smoke from the wood flame. This worked well.

It's been so long since I've had a fire in the fireplace I forget when exactly I set fire to the wood. maybe it was just before I lit the newspapers and the fire was still small enough I could hold my arm in the fireplace; maybe it was just after; maybe I used charcoal lighter to speed up the wood fire. I'm sorry I can't rmemeber, but I got no smoke in the room. when before I used the newspapers I did get smoke until the wood fire started drawing towards the chimney. That took a minute or three but it seemed a very long time when smoke was filling the room. And my walls are brown wood-paneling. I'd worry more if they were white.

Warning for others, Don't forget to open the damper, or to close it once the fire is out when it's cold out or you'll lose heat. I recently read you should adjust it once the fire is going to less than wide open, but I don't think I can do that with my fireplace wiithout burning my arm. .

I've never seen this kind of thing, gas into a fireplace with the intention that it's used to start a wood fire. But if that's what it is, I would expect that the gas apparatus is sized to start a fire, not for heat, meaning I don't think you can get enough heat out of it to heat the room. And I would think anything you could put in there is going to be very inefficient, with most of the heat going up the chimney. Might turn out that you could heat several rooms with a gas furnace for less than one room with this kind of setup.

trader_4 snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net wrote

I looked it up to provide a picture for you.

Most pots are designed to be heated with a circular heating element.

This is a two foot long heating element - which is the problem when heating a pot of water. I need some kind of long rectangular pot holding apparatus.

Exactly. That's why I need to heat 'something else' other than wood. Like water maybe?

Wood works even as most of the heat and smoke goes up the chimney. With water I could have two containers, one being heated, the other I can put in the room to heat the room.

The question is where can I find a ready made solution to this question?

I have an electrical furnace. It's only the stove, water heater, dryer and the fireplace that are gas.

What I'd like to know is if anyone knows of an existing setup to use the typical "log lighter" to heat up another substance, probably water.

That's what my parents had in their new (in 1969) house in Denton Texas.

Most of the heat is going up and out but if you are sold on a water idea, use some cast iron bars to swap as needed.

I thought the objective was to heat the room? Sure, you could heat a pot of water or something with that log lighter, but it's not designed to put out the BTUs that you need for a room and most of the heat is going to go up the chimney.

Yes, wood works, because the wood is burning and that's where most of the heat is coming from. Absent the wood, it's very different.

Try doing that using your stove or microwave to heat the water and see how much a pot of water heats the room. It's not going to provide much heat, it's obviously impractical and potentially dangerous.

Install a propane space heater, that's what I would do. A portable one is an option too, but I'd prefer a vented, permanent one. It will make efficient use of the propane and put the heat into the room.