Vent free gas fireplaces, pretty much by definition, pour lots of heat into the living space that they are located in. This can be a good thing, but it needs to be managed in a safe manner. Because there is no venting (remember, it is vent free) the heat in most vent free fireplaces is going to rise up the wall above the fireplace. This will cause it to get very warm for anything mounted above a vent free fireplace.
This morning I had someone call who had a mantel over their fireplace that was getting very hot. When I asked them how high the mantel was mounted above the fireplace they told me 10 1/2". When I looked in the manual, the mantel that they have should have been mounted 17" above the fireplace. The reason that their mantel was getting too hot was that it was much lower than it could safely be mounted.
Whenever putting in a fireplace or items above it, the installer should always check with the installation manual to make sure that the clearance distances are met. We see incorrectly installed fireplaces literally every week. This is a very common problem.
Another thing to consider is if you are mounting artwork or a television above a vent free fireplace. If the fireplace is not installed in such a way as to protect a television, you can very literally destroy a television with the heat from the fireplace. There are ways to deal with this, however. One of the best ways is to use a vent free fireplace with a heat kit on it that routes some of the heat inside the wall through tubing and vents it out above the fireplace. An example of this is the Superior VRL3045 that is illustrated above.
If you are wanting to install a vent free fireplace in your home, please get with us and we will help you design something that you will not only love, but is safe.
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