Gel Fireplaces

About

Gel fuel fireplaces produce a real flame from a can of alcohol-based gel. There is no flue, no gas line, and no electrical connection, which makes them the least constrained fireplace type we sell: if a surface can take one, it can have a fire on it. How gel fuel works The firebox holds one or more cans of gel in a recess. You remove the lid, light the gel with a long lighter, and it burns with a yellow flame that many brands formulate to crackle. To put it out you place the supplied metal snuffer over the can, which starves the flame of oxygen. Never blow it out and never use water. Each can burns roughly two to three hours and produces about 3,000 BTU. Fireboxes designed for two or three cans scale both the flame and the output accordingly. Use the fuel the manufacturer specifies, since gel formulations differ and a generic substitute is the usual source of odor complaints. What gel is genuinely good at Set expectations correctly and gel is excellent. At around 3,000 BTU per can it produces less heat than a plug-in electric fireplace and far less than a ventless gas fireplace . What it gives you instead is a genuine open flame with zero installation, in a place where installation is impossible. That combination is why it turns up on dining tables, in rented apartments, in interior rooms with no exterior wall, and on covered patios. It is also the only fireplace in our catalog you can carry to another room. Wall mount, freestanding, and tabletop Wall mount units hang like a picture frame and need only a fixing, with no outlet and no venting behind them. Freestanding models stand on the floor and read as a traditional hearth or a stove. Tabletop pieces are small enough for a dining or coffee table and are the format most people start with. For outdoor use specifically, see outdoor gel fireplaces . Gel or ethanol Both burn alcohol and neither needs a vent, so the choice comes down to fuel format. Gel arrives in sealed cans: drop in, light, snuff. It is simpler and th