Fireplaces, Heating Stoves, Flues and Chimneys - fireplace conversion

Hi,

In the home we recently bought we have a fireplace on a wall. It is pretty small (not very deep) and is terribly smokey (we only tried it once). We are going to look at several options, including having the chimney cleaned (the previous owner said he had it inspected & it needed replacing) or replacing it with gas. While I like a 'natural' fireplace the bset, we don't have easy access to wood, termites are a problem in this area & by the time we (potentially) have the chimney serviced/replaced, we might be spending major bucks.

Is replacing or inserting a gas fireplace a major hassle/expense? Again, we are just trying to gather info to help us decide, I'm sure that there are pleny of folks out there that would say we are crazy to do such a thing. I used to be one of those people, but as I age, I can see us using a gas fireplace much more than a wood unit.

Thanks,
Bob

If the fireplace smokes, you should not install gas logs. With wood you can see the problem (smoking) , with gas, the carbonmonoxide may be undectectable until it it's too late. Very unsafe. You should contact a local fireplace shop and have them look at it. They can make some recomendations.