FireplaceIQ Team The numbers that describe fireplaces and home heating in America, gathered in one place and sourced. Natural gas heats 47 percent of US homes and electricity 42 percent. About 2.5 million households heat primarily with wood and another 9 million use it as backup. Heating equipment causes about 65,000 home fires a year, and failure … Read more
A direct vent gas fireplace is safe to run all day: it is a sealed appliance designed for continuous operation, and with an annual service and a working CO alarm, running it dawn to midnight is using it as built. The answer changes with the type. B-vent units are fine with sound venting, vented log … Read more
To start a fireplace fire without smoking out the room: open the damper all the way, warm the cold flue for two minutes before lighting anything big, build the fire top-down with the small stuff on top, and burn only dry wood. Smoke pours into the room for exactly one reason, the chimney is not … Read more
An electric fireplace that stopped working is fixable at home more often than not, and the order matters: outlet and breaker first, remote batteries second, a full reset third, the overheat cutoff fourth. Those four steps resolve the majority of dead fireplaces without a screwdriver, because the most common failures are the power path and … Read more
A smelly fireplace is almost always one of five things: creosote in the flue getting damp or warm, air flowing backward down the chimney, dust burning off a gas unit at season start, an animal situation, or water where it should not be. The smell identifies the culprit: campfire means creosote, musty means moisture, burning … Read more
A gas fireplace that keeps shutting off is usually telling on one of four parts: a weakening thermopile, a dirty pilot assembly, an overheat switch doing its job, or a remote thermostat you forgot was in charge. The timing of the shutoff is the diagnostic: seconds after lighting points at the sensor, several minutes in … Read more
A gas fireplace pilot light that will not stay lit is a thermocouple problem nine times out of ten: either the sensor is dirty, or it is worn out, and they wear out on a schedule, 8 to 12 years almost to the month. The fix runs from free (cleaning) to $100 to $350 (replacement) … Read more
FireplaceIQ is reader supported. If you buy through a link on this page we may earn a commission. It never changes what you pay. Details in our affiliate disclosure. The best electric fireplace for an RV is the Greystone 26 inch recessed unit if you are replacing or adding a built-in, and a compact stove … Read more
FireplaceIQ is reader supported. If you buy through a link on this page we may earn a commission. It never changes what you pay. Details in our affiliate disclosure. The best freestanding electric stove heater is the Duraflame DFI-5010 infrared stove: about $250 in July 2026, the most convincing 3D flame in the category, and … Read more
FireplaceIQ is reader supported. If you buy through a link on this page we may earn a commission. It never changes what you pay. Details in our affiliate disclosure. The best gas fireplace insert for most homes in 2026 is the Regency Energy E33: a 35,000 BTU workhorse with real efficiency, a flame that looks … Read more