Does a Bear....????
Posted on 02/12/2013 11:31:24 AM PST by illiac
A U.S. Court of Appeals has thrown out the rules adopted in 2011 by the Department of Energy to try to regulate gas-log fireplaces so that they use less energy. The court has ordered the Department of Energy to rewrite its efficiency rules for the “faux hearths” that simulate a wood fire with artificial logs and a natural-gas flame, The Wall Street Journal reports.
In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected the DOE’s attempt at regulating the energy efficiency of the gas-log fireplaces, but left the door open for future regulation.
(Excerpt) Read more at realtormag.realtor.org ...
I read someplace that the EPA will try to ban wood burning stoves and fireplaces. I find it ironic that during the 1970s environmentalists had bumper stickers that read “Split Wood Not Atoms” touting wood as an environmentally safe renewable energy source. Now burning wood is an environmental heresy.
I have one of these in my house and I was very surprised to find that it uses gas faster than the furnace which heats the entire house. This is despite the fact that the gas fireplace puts out pnly a small fraction of the heat and doesn’t even seem to be turned up very high.
Yeah, but making love with your best girl, sipping vintage vino and nibbling on decadent chocolates, in front of the basement furnace, just somehow sucks. LOL.
I have’t run mine for 2yrs, and just fired it up to check the gas ports and re-arrange the glow-logs. By keeping the flu 60-70% closed, 90% of the heat stays inside and the by-product in merely water condensation on the windows and skylights. My CO2 detectors are silent.
Ours just about melts the cat (who is a permanent fixture in front of it when it’s on - don’t know how she can stand it). We only use it on the coldest evenings because it makes the room just too hot. I used it a lot over the holidays and noticed no significant increase in the gas bill. I suppose it depends on the model, type (direct vent), etc.
Actually Propane gas logs are very efficient because you can close the flue all the way...they burn clean inside the house.
I have one of these in my house and I was very surprised to find that it uses gas faster than the furnace which heats the entire house. This is despite the fact that the gas fireplace puts out pnly a small fraction of the heat and doesn’t even seem to be turned up very high.
Then the market will decide....
Someone also needs to design a “gas fireplace/furnace” that uses coils in the “chimney” or something....
But the gov can go flip itself...
[ I have’t run mine for 2yrs, and just fired it up to check the gas ports and re-arrange the glow-logs. By keeping the flu 60-70% closed, 90% of the heat stays inside and the by-product in merely water condensation on the windows and skylights. My CO2 detectors are silent. ]
I would worry more about your CO detectors, you would get a headache before your CO2 detectors went off, if you start feeling inordinately sleepy while it is on, check the batteries in your CO detector....
Does a Bear....????
I strongly suspect that your gas monitors detect CO (carbon monoxide, slightly lighter than air) rather than CO2 (carbon dioxide, heavier than air), check the label.
Since you are not choking the air supply to your fire (you can't in an open fireplace!), you are producing H2O and CO2 (complete combustion) NOT CO (incomplete combustion from limited oxygen).
CO is toxic as it bonds with hemoglobin more readily then does oxygen thus shutting down your metabolism. CO2 is nontoxic but is heavier than air thus displacing air and potentially smothering you. That is seldom a problem as most home construction is drafty enough that CO2 is dissipated before dangerous levels accumulate.
Regards,
GtG
PS While making love with your best girl, sipping vintage vino and nibbling on decadent chocolates, in front of the gas log. Keep a candle burning alongside the fireplace near the floor (ambience!).
If it goes out before it burns out, GET OUT OF DODGE!
As I’ve ranted in similar threads about the EPA, please consider the following. Not only have the states never delegated to the federal government via the Constitution the specific power to tell people how to heat their homes, but the Founding States had made Sections 1-3 of Article I of the Constitution to clarify that all federal legislative powers are vested in the elected members of Congress. In other words, Congress has a constitutional monopoly on federal regulatory powers whether it wants it or not. So corrupt Congress has violated the above referenced constitutional statutes every time that it has established a so-called “independent federal regulatory agency” imo.
Again, it remains that, since the states have never delegated to Congress the specific power to tell people how to heat their homes, Congress can’t delegete powers that it doesn’t have to non-elected bureaucrats like the DOE even if the Constitution permitted Congress to delegate its regulatory powers to third parties.
Sadly, the Appeals Court should have decided this issue 3-0 instead of 2-1 imo.
They’re new, within 2 weeks, hardwired and 9v battery back-up. I also leave some windows cracked-open. Thanks for the tip and it’s well noted GG.
Hey, do you think wood just grows on trees? Oh, wait....
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