A gas fireplace is a great addition to any home during the cold winter months. But thinking of starting a project to convert gas fireplace to wood can seem difficult for some people, especially if you want to completely redesign it. WarmthPedia can make it simple and easy for you!
This leads you to wonder, “How to convert gas fireplace to wood?”
This WarmthPedia guide covers all you need to know about this process. It explains some easy steps and tips to follow in order to make sure everything goes smoothly and safely while converting a gas fireplace to wood.
Can You Convert Gas Fireplace to Wood?
Wondering if you can convert gas fireplace to wood? The design of your fireplace and chimney safety considerations will determine how difficult it’ll be to convert gas fireplace to wood fireplace.
WarmthPedia answer is NOT all gas fireplaces can be converted to a wood fireplace, while some can. Only wood-built fireplaces can be converted to burn wood. A wood-burning fireplace needs a proper, safe chimney and ventilation.
If your gas fireplace is the original construction in your home, you’ll likely need to have a lot of chimney work before converting. There’re some important safety factors. First, it’s dangerous to burn wood in a gas fireplace because this increases the risk and brings a lot of smoke into your home.
Turning off the gas supply and using a gas fireplace as a wood fireplace is really dangerous! However, It won’t take long to identify any problems or risks if you notice a huge release of smoke into your home.
Many homes, especially older ones, have gas-burning inserts placed in their traditional fireplaces. The conversion of these fireplaces back to wood-burning fireplaces is easy and affordable.
Watch this YouTube video below for the full answer for “Can you convert gas fireplace to wood?”.
How to Convert Gas Fireplace to Wood?
Here are WarmthPedia steps to follow if you want to convert gas fireplace to wood properly and safely:
1. Know Your Situation
You need to be aware of the conditions in your home before you finish converting gas fireplace to wood project. Some homeowners may have to put in a lot more effort and work than others to convert gas fireplace to wood.
For example, some homes have gas fireplaces installed when they were first built. A fireplace in these homes is a gas appliance that has no chimney or flue attached to it.
You’ll need to replace the entire fireplace, and install a flue and a chimney to convert gas fireplace to wood. It’ll be really dangerous to try burning wood in a pre-built gas fireplace because smoke won’t be distributed out of your home.
On the other side, your home might have previously had a wood-burning fireplace that was replaced by a gas fireplace. It takes much less work and effort in many homes to go back to a traditional wood-burning fireplace.
2. Get Approval
You must contact the local municipality to know if any building codes or permits are required after determining whether your fireplace may be converted to a wood-burning fireplace.
Then you should double-check your fireplace even if you’re sure that your home can accommodate a conversion from a gas to a wood-burning fireplace.
For that, you should previously know how to do this process properly.
3. Inspect Your Chimney
Unlike some types of gas fireplaces, all wood-burning fireplaces need proper ventilation.
You should always get your chimney inspected before switching back to using wood for your fireplace, especially if you haven’t used or maintained it recently. A wood-burning fireplace could be dangerous and unsafe if the chimney is damaged or broken.
The most important thing you should know is that your fireplace might not be ready for converting to a wood-burning one just yet because your gas fireplace doesn’t have a chimney.
Check to see if the chimney’s damper, cap, crown, brick, liner, and mortar are all working properly.
4. Hire a Contractor to Convert Your Fireplace
It’s better to hire a contractor if you want to convert gas fireplace to wood fireplace.
The contractor will help you cap the gas line for you, take out the gas logs or insert, and inspect the fireplace to make sure it’s in good condition to convert gas fireplace to wood.
5. Budget for Future Maintenance Costs
Gas fireplaces often require less maintenance than wood-burning ones.
Without regular Maintainance, your fireplace may accumulate flammable creosote that might ignite a fire and deadly flames, or it may have poor ventilation that could lead to smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning.
6. The Conversion Process
The last step here is to ensure that your chimney is in good condition and ready for the wood-burning conversion.
At this point, all you need to do is to take away the gas logs, then install a gas lighter or tap into the gas line for your wood fireplace. It’s much easier to start a fire using a gas lighter than doing this manually.
Remember that switching a gas fireplace to a wood-burning fireplace requires extreme effort and attention to every part of the fireplace. If you want to convert gas fireplace to wood one without making any effort, just call a professional to do it safely and properly.
Summary
You can prevent any dangerous problems and risks by doing proper and regular Maintainance. After the conversion process, your fireplace needs to be inspected once a year. You should also install carbon monoxide detectors on every floor of your house to be always safe.
Looking to convert gas fireplace to wood? Follow WarmthPedia steps explained above and tell us your experience in the comments box below.