Propane and natural gas fireplace repair in Lorna Doone

Battery backup and power outages

An IPI fireplace needs power for its module, so an outage can leave it dark. Some systems carry a battery backup. Heat & Glo's IntelliFire Touch, for example, takes a battery pack that lets the fireplace run during an outage.

Makers do not treat those batteries alike. Heat & Glo says they are for emergency use and has the technician confirm on the yearly service that they were removed, to prevent early failure or leaking. One Heatilator manual likewise says to install them only when needed because they may leak. A command system from another maker instead keeps its batteries in as backup and asks for them to be replaced when the light shows low or at least once a year.

Which arrangement your fireplace uses is checked first, along with the battery holder. Damage from leaked batteries is noted on the estimate with the part it affects.

Flame carryover across the whole burner

Once the pilot lights the nearest ports, flame is meant to run along the burner until every port is burning. A yearly service list we follow checks for exactly that, calling it ignition carryover to all ports.

Gaps show as dark patches or a section that lights late. The causes the manuals name include plugged or corroded ports, ember material pressed down into the port holes and a log set so that it covers ports, which one log placement diagram specifically warns against. Dust and lint in the burner area can do the same.

Several starts are watched to find where the flame stalls, and the cause is corrected at that spot. A log or ember layer is reset to the maker's diagram and the light-off checked again, and ports that are damaged rather than blocked go on the estimate as a burner line.

Flames that lift off the burner

A healthy flame sits on the burner ports. A lifting flame floats above them, burning blue, and may seem to drift. One direct vent manual calls this ghosting and links it to the flame not getting enough oxygen.

The causes that manual lists are mostly outside the burner. The vent cap may be installed wrong or blocked with debris, a vent joint may be loose or leaking, debris may be blocking the air intake at the back of the combustion chamber, or the glass may not be properly secured and latched. On a sealed direct vent unit, each of those upsets the air the flame depends on.

An insert maker's yearly checklist also names lifting flames as something the technician looks for. We check the glass, the intake and the pressures at the fireplace, and anything found in the vent run becomes a separate venting item on the estimate.

Hot glass, children and pets around the fireplace

The glass on a gas fireplace gets hot enough to burn, and it stays hot for a while after the flame goes out. The manuals we have read warn that surfaces remain hot after shutdown and that toddlers, young children and others may be susceptible to accidental contact burns. Glass cleaning instructions from another maker also say to keep children and pets a safe distance away.

That concern runs through an insert owner's manual as well, which lists practical steps for households with small children or other at-risk people. Each one is easy to keep up.

Some remotes also have a child lock switch tucked inside the battery compartment. Before a serviced unit is lit again, the barrier's fit is checked.

• Keep the barrier in place whenever the fireplace runs
• Fit a switch lock or a remote with a child lockout
• Keep remote controls out of reach
• Never leave children alone near it, lit or cooling