Do FireStones/FireShapes/FireBalls Produce As Much Heat As FireGlass?

Question: I am interested in a more contemporary feel for our new addition. I was considering the fireglass as it gives off more heat than the gas logs. I prefer the look of your FireStones. Could you tell me if the firestones give off as much heat as the fireglass?

Answer: I respectfully disagree with your assertion that the fire glass gives more heat than gas logs. The heat output of a vented gas log set is primarily dependent on the efficiency of the particular fireplace and chimney system in which it is being operated. This efficiency will vary from fireplace design to fireplace design, and from house to house, depending on environmental factors, such as drafts and ambient temperature.

Fireplaces were originally designed for cooking and are very inefficient as heaters. They will create a measure of warmth, but how much is dependent on how efficiently the fireplace draws air from the room to exhaust the products of combustion up the chimney. The better job it does in venting, the worse job it does in heating. A vented gas log must have the damper fully open whenever the gas log set is in operation, as the burner is designed to burn with a yellow, smoky, wood-like flame that produces soot, carbon monoxide and other products of combustion. If these combustion products do not exhaust up the chimney they will enter the living space, posing a potential hazard to life and property.

With a traditional gas log set, the gas logs absorb heat from the fire, then radiate the heat back into the room. This is most evident just after you turn off the flame – you can feel the warmth for quite a while afterwards.

Firestones will do the same, as they are made of the same material as our gas logs. The only difference is that they do not stand as tall as the logs, therefore they do not present as large of a radiant surface towards the room as logs do. The fire glass is even lower to the floor that FireStones.

Many people who like the look of the fire glass have enhance this look by placing our FireStones, FireShapes or FireBalls on top of the glass. It really completes the look, and gives more radiant heating surface than the glass alone. Shown are a couple of photos showing the FireBalls and FireShapes used with a layer of glass atop of our CXF burner.