Gas fireplace repair for Kirkman South homes

Delayed ignition is a service call

A main burner should light smoothly once its valve opens. A noticeable pause before it catches is on Heat & Glo's list of faults to check, and for its Supreme inserts the yearly checklist has the technician confirm the main burner lights within four seconds of the valve opening. That is one maker's figure for its own models.

The causes the manuals point to are physical. Plugged burner ports, embers pushed over the ports or into the pilot area and a burner that has moved out of line with its pilot can all slow the light-off.

That checklist also asks for smooth lighting and carryover to every port, so a late start is judged together with how the flame spreads. On your Kirkman South fireplace, the ports, media and burner position are checked and, where the maker gives a figure, the light-off is timed against it before the fix is written into the estimate.

A gas fireplace burns gas and nothing else

The logs in a gas fireplace look real, and that tempts some owners to add something. Two vent manuals from one maker are firm. Do not use any solid fuel such as wood, coal, paper or cardboard, do not cook food or burn other objects, and use only the gas type shown on the rating plate. Heatilator adds that gasoline, lantern fuel, kerosene and charcoal lighter fluid must never go into the appliance.

The direct vent one of the pair also warns never to connect the fireplace to a private, non-utility gas well. The burner, logs and ports are built around one fuel, and anything else in the firebox is outside what the appliance is listed for.

When our technician finds paper, trash or other burned material in a firebox, it is removed as one maker's yearly task list directs for foreign objects, and the logs, ember material and burner ports are checked for anything it left behind. What that finding needs, if anything, goes on the estimate.

Same-day gas fireplace visits when available

Some calls cannot wait for next week, such as a fireplace that will not light before a family gathering or a remote that stopped answering on the evening you planned to use it. For homes in Kirkman South, we offer same-day visits when the schedule allows.

A few details when you call help the visit start in the right place. Read them off the fireplace only if you can do so without opening anything.

A same-day visit follows the same steps as any other, with the free inspection, the written estimate and your approval before any work. These details help the diagnosis start in the right place, and they never replace the tests on the fireplace itself.

• The maker and model from the rating plate, if visible
• Whether the pilot sparks, lights or stays lit
• The step where the start-up stops
• Any fault lights or codes on the module or remote

Freestanding gas stoves and fireplace heaters

Not every gas appliance with a flame behind glass is a built-in fireplace. Freestanding gas stoves, inserts and wall units are often heaters as much as decorative fireplaces, and the state's fuel gas code treats them that way. Vented gas fireplace heaters, vented room heaters and wall furnaces each have their own listing standard in that code, and each is installed per the manufacturer's instructions.

The listing shows on the rating plate. Heat & Glo's Supreme inserts, for example, are listed as vented gas fireplace heaters rather than decorative fireplaces. Service follows the same order as on any fireplace, the plate first, then the maker's manual and the parts it names.

Units without a vent are different appliances under different rules, and they go to our ventless gas fireplace service. For vented stoves and heaters in your Kirkman South home, our technician handles the pilot, burner, controls and fan as on a fireplace, and the estimate names the listing with the model.