Gas or wood burning fireplace

[Hakkola]

Luxury home, gas or wood burning, what would you put in and why?

[Nufy]

Nothing beats a good wood fire imo...

Yes its messy and more maintenance etc...gotta get wood...clean the chimney...sweep up ashes...

But nothing beats the sound of a crackling fire on a stormy winter night.
Super romantic too...

[Hakkola]

That's what I'm thinking too, it's for my parent's place which they're planning on selling in a few years. Personally I think gas burning is stupid to have but I'm not a potential buyer.
If you're paying a mill + on a home do you want gas or wood?

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Hakkola]

I guess that makes sense, they will have to put a wood burning fireplace outside then.

[ExtraSlow]

Gas for sure. If it's a million dollar home, amybe put a nice outdoor fireplace in (with an attached brick oven like one beyonder did?)

[project240]

Even though I personally love wood fireplaces, I think most people are too lazy to do the work involved with having one. If they were planning on staying in the home for a long time, they should put in whatever they prefer, but with resale in mind, most potential buyers would likely prefer the convenience of gas.

[DENZILDON]

Is there any restrictions in putting a wood burning fire place in your garage?

[sxtasy]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
(with an attached brick oven like one beyonder did?) I had a brick oven build thread here a couple years ago. I also build masonry fireplaces. These typically are only built in multi million dollar homes. Of course I am slightly biased, but you can't beat the ambiance of a crackling fire and the amount of heat a masonry fireplace gives off. The downside to one is the price, they are not cheap.

You just don't get the heat from a gas unit or a zero clearance wood burning unit.

Here is one I recently built,

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Coastal_Cedar_10720_CMYK_8bit-1024x768_zps6687fd04.jpg (http://s10.photobucket.com/user/justin240/media/Coastal_Cedar_10720_CMYK_8bit-1024x768_zps6687fd04.jpg.html)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a122/justin240/Coastal_Cedar_10681_CMYK_8bit-1024x768_zpsf298835d.jpg (http://s10.photobucket.com/user/justin240/media/Coastal_Cedar_10681_CMYK_8bit-1024x768_zpsf298835d.jpg.html)

[Hakkola]

Real nice.

[Perceptionist]

What's the difference between a masonry fireplace and a typical wood burning fireplace?

Also, is it standard for newer wood burning fireplaces to also have a gas burner underneath? Having the gas to get it started and warm up the air in the chimney makes it way easier from my experience.

[sxtasy]

What you typically see nowadays are fireplaces built in insulated steel boxes. They are lightweight and built so they can be safely installed close to wood framing.

A masonry fireplace is sitting on its own footing and generally weighs tens of thousands of pounds. The firebox is hand built out of refractory brick and can be customized in shape and size to suit the space it is designed to heat. The mass of the fireplace works to its advantage, after a fire goes out it will continue to radiate heat for hours.

The fireplace pictured above also has a gas log lighter. I don't think most prefabbed inserts have log lighters.