Gas Fireplace Installation in Smithville, ON — Vented, Screened and Certified

Most people call us about a gas fireplace for one of two reasons. There is a room that never gets warm, or there is an open masonry fireplace that looks good and gives back almost no heat.

This page covers the three types, how they vent, the safety screen that comes with every new unit, and what the installation involves. We are TSSA certified and we handle the permit.

Call us and describe the room. We can tell you which type suits it before anyone comes out.

The Three Types, and Which Suits You

Fireplace Insert

An insert slides into a masonry fireplace you already have. The opening, the hearth and the chimney are all there, so this is the least disruptive of the three and the cheapest.

It is also the biggest change in comfort. An open masonry fireplace pulls warm air out of the room and up the chimney. An insert seals that opening and turns it into a heat source.

Built-In (Zero Clearance)

A built-in goes into a wall where there was never a fireplace. It is framed in, vented out, and finished to look like it was always there.

This is the option for an addition, a basement or a room with no chimney anywhere near it.

Freestanding Stove

A stove sits out in the room rather than inside a wall. Because heat comes off every side, it warms a space faster than a unit set into a wall.

It suits a cottage-style room, a sunroom, or anywhere the look is part of the point.

Older homes around Smithville and Grimsby are full of open masonry fireplaces that nobody uses. This is the case of requiring an insert, and is the job we do most.

Direct Vent or Natural Vent

Direct vent draws its air from outside and sends exhaust back out through the same sealed assembly. The air in your room is never used for combustion, which is why almost every new fireplace we fit is direct vent.

Natural vent takes air from the room and sends exhaust up a chimney. It works, but it needs a suitable chimney and it uses the air you have already paid to heat.

Direct vent can go straight out a side wall. That matters in a house with no chimney, or one where the chimney is on the wrong side of the building.

The Glass Gets Hot Enough to Burn

This is the part nobody mentions in a showroom.

The glass front on a gas fireplace passes 200°C while it is running, and the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association of Canada warns that touching it can cause serious, irreversible burns. (1)

It also stays hot after you switch it off. HPBAC puts the cooling time at 45 minutes. (1) That is the part that catches families out, because the fire is off, the room looks safe, and the glass is still dangerous.

Every gas-fired certified fireplace manufactured after 1 January 2015 comes with a safety screen or protective barrier, and that barrier has to be installed with the unit. (1) We fit it as part of the job.

If your fireplace is older than that, no law requires you to retrofit anything. But if there are small children or pets in the room, ask us about an aftermarket screen when we service it.

Heat During a Power Cut

A gas fireplace can keep a room warm when the electricity is off, but only some of them will.

A standing pilot is a small flame that never goes out. It needs no electricity, so the fireplace keeps working through an outage.

Electronic ignition lights the burner on demand and uses less gas the rest of the time. It needs power, unless the model has a battery backup.

Ask which one you are buying. In an ice storm it is the difference between one warm room and none.

A fireplace heats the room it is in, so it is a companion to a furnace or boiler that heats the whole house rather than a replacement for one. Rural properties out toward West Lincoln and Haldimand lose power more than the town does, and for longer.

What the Installation Involves

We check the gas supply first. A fireplace is another appliance drawing from the same line, and the line has to carry all of them at once. Where no line reaches the spot, the job starts with a line run to where the fireplace will sit.

We plan the vent route. Out a side wall is simplest. Up through a floor or two is a bigger job and changes the price.

We confirm clearances to framing, mantel, flooring and anything else that can burn, against what the manufacturer specifies for that model.

We pull the permit. Ontario adopts the CSA B149.1 installation code through its gas regulation, and that code is what the work is built and inspected against. (2)

We fit the barrier, leak test the connection, and run the fireplace before we leave.

After that it wants servicing it once a year, which is when the glass, the pilot and the venting all get checked.

An addition or a sunroom that never got ductwork is the most common reason people fit one here. The room got built, and the heating never reached it.

What Affects the Cost of a Gas Fireplace in Smithville

We do not publish prices on our website. A fireplace insert into an opening that already exists and a built-in cut into a finished wall are different jobs, and one number would mislead more people than it helps. Six things decide your quote.

Which type. Insert, built-in or freestanding, in that order of cost.

The vent route. Straight out a side wall, or up through two floors.

Whether a gas line reaches the spot. If not, that is a separate piece of work.

Finish work. Surround, mantel and hearth are a separate trade in most cases, and worth pricing before you commit.

Permit and inspection. Part of every job.

Removing what is there. An old insert or a decommissioned appliance has to come out.

An insert into a working masonry opening is the cheapest route into a gas fireplace, and plenty of older houses here already have the opening sitting unused.

Common Questions About Gas Fireplace Installation in Smithville

Do gas fireplaces need a safety screen in Canada?

Yes, on new units. Every gas-fired certified fireplace manufactured after January 1, 2015 comes with a safety screen or protective barrier that must be installed with it. (1) Older units are not required to be retrofitted, but an aftermarket screen is worth fitting in a house with small children or pets.

What are the building code requirements for a gas fireplace in Ontario?

Ontario adopts the CSA B149.1 installation code through its gas regulation, and that is the standard the work is built and inspected against. (2) The job needs a permit, and only a TSSA certificate holder may perform the work. (2)

What is the most common problem with a gas fireplace?

A pilot or ignition light that will not stay lit. Dust and lint on the sensor cause most of it, which is why a yearly service prevents most of these calls we get.

Will my gas fireplace work during a power cut?

Only if it has a standing pilot, or electronic ignition with a battery backup. Ask before you buy.

Can you put a gas insert into my existing brick fireplace?

Yes, and it is the most common fireplace job we do. Older homes around here have plenty of open masonry fireplaces that give back very little heat.

How often does a gas fireplace need servicing?

Once a year. The glass, the pilot, the burner and the venting all get checked, and it is when most small faults turn up.

If You Are Thinking About a Gas Fireplace

Tell us about the room and what is already there. An existing masonry opening, a wall with nothing behind it, or an addition with no heating all point to different answers.

We are TSSA certified, we handle the permit, we fit the safety barrier, and we have been a trusted family business in Niagara since 2014. You can also read about the gas line that feeds it, and the rest of our gas work.

References

1. Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association of Canada, Product Safety, hpbacanada.org
2. Government of Ontario, O. Reg. 212/01: Gaseous Fuels, ontario.ca
3. Technical Standards and Safety Authority, Contractor Registration and Certification, tssa.org