Gas fireplaces are the fireplaces of choice today because of the convenience and cleanliness they bring to your home while still maintaining the look of a traditional wood burning fire. When it comes to making a fire look like the real fire, the little things matter a lot. Gas fireplace accessories are a collection of simple components that bring authenticity to your fireplace.
Gas vs. Wood Burning Fireplaces
Wood burning fireplaces need accessories that are required to keep the wood burning safe and clean. These include the fireplace door, screen, grates for keeping the logs, fireback, shovel and pail. While a glass door reduces the heat loss, a screen prevents the flyaway embers from escaping into the room. Placing the logs on a grate allows the fire to burn properly by allowing the air to circulate better. Fireback is a reflective metal sheet that radiates heat back into the room. A fireplace shovel and a pail or placing an ash tray under the grate can help remove the ash. Gas fireplaces need none of these items as such but only to help make the hearth look like a real wood burning fire.
More About Gas Fireplace Accessories
A lot of manufacturers offer accessory kits containing small items that can accentuate a gas burning fire. Lava rocks or dark volcanic cinders are used with the log sets to cover the visible floor of the fireplace creating a finished look that adds realism to the fire. Bags of embers can be added to the log set to create a glowing effect. Decorative cast iron grates can be an excellent accent to the log sets to add charm. Ceramic wood chip rings that look like the cut end of hollow logs, charred wood chips that appear burnt on the surface and ceramic pine cones – all of these can be used as decorative accents.
Fire granules, acorns, fireback, coals, charred chunks, cinders, rock wool and cast iron facing are also available. You can arrange these items as you please to decorate your fire and make it appear as close to a real fire, or even better. Refractory receiver houses are also available to store your control devices and can be painted to match your fireballs, stones or shapes. Since they are made with refractory cement, they can withstand the heat.
