Can I vent an open gas fireplace out a wall?
Only sealed direct vent fireplaces can be vented horizontally out a wall. The only exception would be an open fireplace with a power vented system, which is usually noisy and not recommended in residential installations. Q – I have a wood-burning brick and masonry fireplace that faces one direction. We would like to open it up so that is see-through and put in a gas insert. Your chimney has been designed to vent your existing size of fireplace opening, so opening it up on the other side will essentially double the space needed to be vented. This is unlikely to work. What you can do is install glass on one side or use a vent top power draft inducer. Q – I have a wood-burning fireplace that does not vent very well. Id like to put in a gas insert to solve the problem, preferably an open gas log set. If your fireplace does not vent very well with wood, it will not vent well with an open gas log set, since all you are doing is exchanging fuels.
