Gas Fireplace Installation for Palo Alto Homes

Gas fireplace installation in brief

Gas fireplace installation means putting in a complete gas-burning fireplace. That covers setting the unit, running its vent to the outside, connecting the gas supply, and checking ignition, flame and controls before the first real use. We do gas fireplace and gas appliance work, and we work on all major brands. To see each stage from the first visit to the first fire, read how gas fireplace installation works.

What Palo Alto's rules mean for a new gas fireplace

Two City of Palo Alto documents set the terms for this job. One decides which kind of fireplace can go in. The other decides how the unit vents and how its gas piping gets tested.

Every new fireplace has to burn gas

The City of Palo Alto Development Center's residential construction guide states that a Palo Alto ordinance prohibits installing new wood-burning fireplaces and wood stoves, and that all new fireplaces must be approved gas-burning appliances (source: City of Palo Alto Development Center, Residential Construction Guide, 7-2020).

If you're adding a fireplace where there isn't one now, the fuel question is already settled: the new unit will be gas. If you're still deciding what to do with a fireplace you already have, our guide to gas vs wood burning fireplace sets out the practical differences in heat, upkeep and day-to-day use.

Only direct-vent, sealed-combustion units

Palo Alto's Factory Built Fireplace and Hearth inspection guideline states that any installed gas fireplace must be a direct-vent sealed-combustion type (source: City of Palo Alto Development Services, Inspection Guidelines: Factory Built Fireplace and Hearth).

A direct-vent sealed-combustion fireplace pulls its combustion air from outdoors and sends its exhaust back outdoors through a sealed vent. A fixed glass front separates the flame from the room. This affects two decisions. First, the model you choose has to be that type, so check it before you settle on a look or a size. Second, the vent needs a route to the outside, through an exterior wall or the roof, and that route often decides where in the room the fireplace can sit.

Gas piping is pressure-tested, and the whole house is tested at final

The same guideline requires gas piping to hold a pressure test of at least 10 psi for 15 minutes, and it notes that a whole-house gas test is required at final inspection (source: City of Palo Alto Development Services, Inspection Guidelines: Factory Built Fireplace and Hearth).

In practice, the gas line feeding the new fireplace has to prove it holds pressure. The final check also covers the house's gas system as a whole, not only the new run. Plan for both tests in the schedule before you count on using the fireplace.

When installation is the right job, and when it isn't

• No fireplace yet, and you want one: this is a gas fireplace installation, done under the rules above.
• An older masonry fireplace whose condition you don't know: start with a chimney inspection for homes in Palo Alto so you know what you're working with before you choose a path.
• You want a gas flame in the firebox you already have: gas logs or a fireplace insert are separate jobs we also do, and they may suit you better than a full new unit.
• An existing gas fireplace won't light or runs poorly: repair or routine service is usually the right call, not replacement.

Next steps

For equipment choices and how the work runs, see the full gas fireplace installation service. For the other work we do in this city, including inspections, repairs and cap work, see Palo Alto.