How Much Does It Cost to Operate a Gas Fireplace?

The amount of gas you’re burning in your gas fireplace is easily adjusted manually or with a remote control. Whether it’s natural or LP gas, fireplaces have adjustable gas valves that are usually in the range of 15,000 to 40,000 BTUs per hour. The more gas you’re using, the higher and livelier the flames will be and the more heat will be delivered into the room.

In the USA, let’s assume the burner is set at approximately 30,000 BTU’s/hour, a common input for many gas fireplaces. In this scenario, for each hour of fireplace operation, figure a little less than 1/3 of one therm of natural gas (NG) and about 1/3 of one gallon for LP gas.

If the rate is $1.50/therm for NG, for each hour of use, the cost would be around 50ȼ. For LP, assuming a rate of $2.00/gallon, figure it will cost about 67ȼ for each hour the fireplace is operating.

For some Canadian consumers, let’s use the same example. The 30,000 BTU burner is using approximately .83 cubic meters/hour. Using the rate of 20¢ per cubic meter, your fireplace would cost approximately 17¢ per hour. Meanwhile with LP, the burner is using about 1.25 litres/hour. By figuring an LP cost of $1 per litre, the cost to operate the fireplace would be about $1.25 per hour.

A couple other items worth mentioning:

• Most people do not use their gas fireplace 24 hours a day.
• Some remote controls will adjust the amount of gas that’s burned, automatically, based on the thermostat setting and the heating demands for your home.
• The actual rate for fuel can vary from month to month.
• Gas companies have fixed charges and other fuel adjustments that will affect your final cost for fuel.