I have a fireplace at home and it does not give off any heat. It is gas and I was looking for a fireplace fan but it has to be installed where a vent would be. We don't have an option of a vent and it is all stoned in. What can I do to get the heat out of the fireplace into the house instead of it sucking all of the air out?

We have gas logs in a fireplace. We turn on the ceiling fan so that it is blowing up, which pulls the heat out of the fireplace and pushes it up over the fan blades and distributes out into the room.. It heats up nearly all of the downstairs and gets the livingroom really cozy.

We just moved in this house this summer and we want to start using the fireplace. We're having the chimney cleaned out Tuesday, but I noticed there's a switch that when I turn it on, it sounds like a fan is running. What is that all about? Does it need to be running when a fire is burning?

There are two possible reasons for a fan in a fire place.

The most common is as a circulating unit to help move some of the warm air into the room. With this type of fan, it is usually located at the bottom of a unit, with vent grills along the bottom, and top, on the face of the fireplace (above and below the glass doors). When the fan is turned on, if you hold a piece of tissue to the bottom vents, it should be held in place by the mild in-flow of air. This exchange helps the fireplace be more efficient at heating the room. So -- if you want to use the fireplace to heat the room, then, yes, run the fan. The fan isn't necessary though, if you just built the fire for the looks, hehehe.

The second reason for a fan on a fireplace is to provide fresh air to the fireplace. This is a safety feature, so that you are not burning up the oxygen in the room...instead, you are bringing in fresh air to burn. This type of fan is usually located under the floor, or in the wall, depending on where the fresh air intake is at. If this is the type of fan you have, then, yes, it needs to be on, anytime you build a fire.

Some fireplaces have both types of fan.

What you need to do at this point, is determine, exactly which fan you've got. Turn it on, and check the vents on the face of the fireplace first. If it is a circulation fan, there will be some mild intake along the bottom vents. If this is a fresh air intake fan, the air will be blowing INTO the burn area... you'll need to open the doors and feel around in the firebox, or look for a vent grill, inside the unit.

Have Fun