Clean Your Gas Fireplace

At the end of the heating season, you should clean your gas fireplace. Use your manual to find out how to remove the front glass panel of your fireplace. Use a mini shop vac to vacuum out all of the dust and black powdery soot that forms at the bottom of the logs, and also underneath where the controls are located. Carefully remove each log and vacuum off the black powdery soot. You will need your manual to correctly replace the logs back in their normal position. If your gas fireplace is vented to the outside, you very well may find spiders down in that area. Vacuum any cobwebs that you find, then go outside and spray the outside vent with Ortho Home Defense bug spray to keep the bugs away from that area. They usually climb into the vent looking for a warm place and end up in the bottom of your fireplace.

While you have the glass off, use Windex to clean both the back and front of the glass (the back of the glass will be very dirty). You may have to repeat the cleaning a few times. Replace the glass in its correct position and you are ready for the next heating season.

Lighting a Gas Fireplace in the Fall

I've had my gas fireplace about 8 years. At the end of the heating season, I always turn off the gas at the main tank. In the fall when I'm ready to light the fireplace for the first time, I turn the main gas valve back on. I've found that the button under the fireplace that needs to be pushed in when pressing the starting button has to be held in for a few minutes before trying to light the fireplace. This is because any gas left in the line between the propane tank and the fireplace evaporates over the summer. Hold the button in for a few minutes, then let it go. This gets gas back flowing from the tank to the fireplace. Once you've done this, light the fireplace with the starter button as usual.