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Can I light a gas fireplace without the gas being on?

I just moved into my new house this weekend and the gas company cannot come out to turn on the gas until next week. We are freezing so I just went to buy some Duraflame logs but I'm not sure how or if I can light the logs without the gas being on. My guess is the pilot is not on so I am wondering if can I just light the fireplace without the gas? When I turned the key I heard a hissing sound. Please advise... The hissing is not continuous, I just turned the key to see if it was any gas left in the line and it hissed so I quickly turned the key to the off position. I know the gas is not on because we just moved in. There are no gas fumes. Can I just light the log like you would in a wood fireplace without the gas being on or is this dangerous?

Public Comments

  1. NO MESS..
  2. A) If you heard hissing, the gas may be on. What else would be hissing? B) You would burn anything flammable in your fireplace without gas just like you would burn it in a non-gas fireplace.
  3. If the gas is off, the pilot is off. Is the hissing continuing? Does it smell? There could be some backed up gas from before the gas was turned off.
  4. well that sound was "GAS" if the value was off,or the company had it off,it woudent do anything when you turned it.now second answer Yes you can light the log's,it'll do nothing to the gas
  5. There is a reason it`s called a gas fireplace. It uses gas, not wood , not fire logs, not paper. The chimney or exhaust vent is not designed for anything else to burn in it. You may not have to worry about being cold when the thing catches fire from excessive heat. Go get an electric heater.DO NOT!!! use fire logs in a gas fireplace.
  6. Yes. Just keep the gas turned off & use it like a regular fireplace. Be sure the damper is open! I've done it a lot, before with no problem. The hiss was probably just gas left in the line.