by Thomas Grey

Created on: December 13, 2009   Last Updated: December 14, 2009

When I bought my house  I was pleased to know that it had a fireplace.  I envisioned romantic evenings spent next to a crackling fire with my wife,  a bottle of Thunderbird-wine and the kids in bed, deeply in  sleep's coma upstairs.  Barry White's voice added to the ambiance.  Then I examined my fireplace - the firebox ( the part of the fireplace that actually holds the fire)  was rusted, the damper (an air-flow control device) was frozen open.  I realized that without a serious injection of cash- my dreams of fireplace romance were dashed.  Recently I discovered Real Flame gel fuel fireplaces and, Yeah  Baby, dreams of romance by the hearth were rekindled.

Real Flame fireplaces are vent-less fireplaces that are made in a variety of styles. The standalone units range in price from $299 to $899 and can significantly dress up any room. I purchased a conversion set for my fireplace which consists of ceramic logs and an iron grate for my fireplace to convert it to fuel gel.  The fuel gel is an alcohol based gel that comes in pint-sized cans.  You place the cans in hidden recesses amidst the logs and light them with a BBQ lighter or long match.  The fuel gel puts out 3000 btus an hour and has grains of salt in it which provide the crackling sound - very cool.  The cans of fuel last up to three hours and produce real flames - which an electric fireplace, whilst making attractive  flames, cannot match. 

I purchased my conversion set (sans the hearth) for $139 on the web and absolutely love it. The only caveat is that the cans of fuel (which, by the way have no odor) can be pricey.  I paid just under $3 a can and I have three can slots in my fireplace.  Nine bucks for a fire lasting 3 hours?  Yep.  However, on Christmas morning or Thanksgiving afternoon a crackling fire is, to steal Mastercard's word, priceless.

Electric fireplaces, on the other hand, are also an option some may wish to consider.  The flames, ahem, look real and the fireplaces are plug and play.  Like fuel gel fireplaces, venting is not necessary and most are actually space heaters as well.  Electric fireplace can be placed, drop-in style, in existing fireplaces or come as standalone units as well.

Whether real or electric or fuel gel, one thing is clear.  Fires have fascinated and facilitated  humans since time immemorial.  They bring comfort and warmth.  Wait...yep, I hear Barry White...gotta go chill the wine and dust off the bearskin rug.

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