Wood burning fire places are a great way to add a lot of ambiance to your family room, not to mention how much warmth they add. Naturally, gas fire places also add the same physical and emotional warmth to the space. However, both of these kinds of fire places have their advantages and disadvantages. No fire place is perfect, but these different types can be good for different individual types of homes. Your home deserves the best fire place for your individual needs.

Wood Burning

A wood burning fire place is one of the oldest ways to keep warm, and human beings have essentially used it since we all lived in caves. With nothing more than some dry wood and ample ventilation, you can keep your home warm with nothing more than a little manual labor and a steady supply of timber. This is the most environmentally friendly way to keep your home warm, if your floor plan is optimized for doing so this way.

Of course, there are down sides to a wood burning fire place. Since trees take a long time to burn, you can easily deforest a small area in a fairly short time. Also, wood burning fire places produce a lot of soot in the chimney that needs to be cleaned every so often. If the chimney becomes too clogged with soot, it can actually become dangerous to the people in the house due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Natural Gas

Natural gas fire places look very similar to their wood burning cousins, but they have several differences that can make them more appropriate to certain kinds of homes. For one thing, natural gas never produces soot. This eliminates the need to clean the chimney or other vents, and it also reduces the likelihood of carbon monoxide exposure as a result of the fire place. Natural gas is also an abundant commodity that should last many decades to come.

However, natural gas will not grow back as trees will. So there are limits to how much of it can be used. It is also dependent on the local gas utility company's proper operation. If the utility fails, so does your heat. You can't go harvest natural gas in a nearby forest. Also, natural gas fire places are more expensive because of their need for the installation of infrastructure. Ultimately, you need to decide whether you want a fire place that will require more work up front or once you have it.