B Vent Fireplace Vs Direct Vent

Gas vent fireplaces exhaust their fumes through the roof via a pipe.

B vent fireplace vs direct vent.

Direct vent is much more efficient you re pulling fresh air from outside of the house. In general b vents do produce less heat than direct vent models. Direct fireplaces have a sealed glass front and typically a smaller flame than a b vent fireplace or a vent free fireplace. They take air to burn from the inside of the home.

A b vent must be vented vertically and uses fresh air from inside the home to provide oxygen to the fire. Direct vents can be vented vertically or horizontally through an exterior wall. The b vent pipes used in natural vent fireplaces are however smaller than the a class chimneys used in traditional wood stoves. Vented fireplaces are further divided into two subcategories natural vent and direct vent.

Direct vent systems use indoor air for combustion. Natural vent models resemble conventional wood burning fireplaces. Natural vent or b vent gas fireplaces and stoves use the air that is already contained inside of a room for combustion. A direct vent has a sealed glass front and pulls all of its fresh air from outside the home.

Direct vent appliances are typically higher in efficiency than b vent appliances and put out a lot of heat even with a low flame setting but still do not produce as much heat as their vent free counterparts. If you desire a realistic looking flame a b vent may be a good choice for you. The position and look of the logs in the fireplace cannot be altered or incomplete combustion will occur. Well visually some people prefer b vent units because their open they have access to a lot of oxygen and you can generally get a nice big visual flame but you can also get a nice flame on a direct vent.

Even the vent pipes are almost the same. Direct vent appliances are typically higher in efficiency than b vent appliances and put out a lot of heat even with a low flame setting.