Gel Fireplace - The Sensible Alternative to Gas Fuel

As more people become concerned about the price and availability of natural gas and propane, it’s important to look at the alternatives to residential gas use.  In the past, gas was used in the home primarily for essential needs like home heating, water heating, and cooking.  More recently, gas has become popular as a decorative fuel in fireplaces, gas logs, and outdoor firepits.  But is this really the best utilization of a dwindling resource? And is gas really the best fuel for decorative fires?  One fuel that’s becoming increasingly popular for decorative fire use is Gelled Alcohol.  A closer look and comparison of the two fuels reveals some distinct advantages for gel.

Realism

Alcohol can be blended to produce a golden/orange flame that has the look and feel of an authentic wood fire.  Gas, when burned efficiently, burns with a short, blue flame, such as you’d see on a gas cooking range. By starving the gas flame for oxygen, some yellow and orange colors appear in the gas flame, but it never really achieves the color of a real wood fire.  Gas must be forced under pressure through a tube to the point of the fire, and it presents a rather constant, unchanging flame pattern.  Gel, on the other hand, burns from an unpressurized open reservoir and is anything but static!  Like a wood flame, it constantly reacts to minor changes in the environment to provide an ever-changing panorama of flame.

Versatility

The decision to install gas logs is a long-term commitment.  The fireplace must be modified to accept gas piping, and permanent gas lines must be installed by a professional.  Once in place, the log set cannot be moved or changed, and you can’t burn any fuel other than gas.  Even when not burning, there’s always a gas log set in the fireplace.  Gel Logsets, on the other hand, are perfectly portable.  Put the Logset in when you want a fire, and remove it when you don’t.  Go back to burning wood whenever you wish.  You can move it from fireplace to fireplace and there’s no fireplace alteration of any kind required.

Ease of Use

Both Gel and gas can be lit at a moment’s notice, adjusted to the desired height, and turned off whenever desired.  Both are clean and leave no residue in the fireplace. 

Safety

Gel is a gentle fuel, without the possibility of hidden leakage or sudden explosive ignition.  When burned, it lights slowly and predictably.  It will only burn as much fuel as you add to the logset.  There’s no need for a fussy safety pilot or complicated regulator.  And if your gel fire fails to vent properly, there’s no threat of deadly carbon monoxide.

The Environment

When you burn gas, you’re depleting a fossil fuel and releasing greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere.  Gel is a naturally derived plant-based fuel.  As with all plant-based fuels, there is no net gain of greenhouse gasses when Gel is burned.  The amount of carbon released is equal to the amount that’s required to grow the plant.

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