Real Fyre Fyre Spheres 4-Pack

Real Fyre Fyre Spheres 4-Packs are boxes of four ceramic spheres for vented Real Fyre pan burners. Use them to replace spheres in a P45 set, or as a decorative top layer over glass on a PB pan burner.

How it performs

The Fyre Spheres 4-Pack set is a vented gas fire in a wood-burning fireplace: the burner runs under and through the logs, the flames are tall and yellow and move like a wood fire's, and the embers glow under them. The look depends on the burner as much as the logs.

Good to know

• Vented logs are decorative: the damper is open and most of the heat goes up the chimney. For heat, the vent-free version of this style is the one.
• The logs never burn away, but they char and darken where the flame touches; that is part of the look.
• Gas use is real: a 24-inch burner on high draws about what a large furnace does. Low is for long evenings.

Dimensions

How many spheres does a burner take?

On a P45 pan burner the count is fixed, and Peterson warns that extra spheres can make it unsafe:

On a PB glass pan burner, 4 inch spheres are an optional top layer over the glass: 14 for a 16 inch burner, 20 for 18 inch, 21 for 20 inch, 24 for 24 inch, 26 for 30 inch, 28 for 36 inch and 30 for 42 inch.

Clearances

A vented gas log set borrows the fireplace's own clearances: the mantel, hearth and side-wall rules of the wood-burning fireplace it goes into stay exactly as they were built and inspected. What the log set adds is the room the burner and the flames need inside the firebox, below, and three rules: the damper fixed fully open with the clamp supplied, glass doors open or removed whenever the burner runs, and nothing stored or draped within 3 feet of the front of the fireplace.

Details

Warranty

Source: R.H. Peterson Real Fyre limited warranty, printed in the burner manual linked above. Register the set with Peterson after installation.

Installation

A vented set goes into a wood-burning fireplace with a working chimney and a gas line, by a licensed gas installer, in about two hours.

• Gas: a dedicated 1/2-inch line to a shutoff at the fireplace; natural gas at 5 to 7 inches of water column, propane at 11 to 13. The connector runs through a plate in the firebox floor or wall.
• Damper: fixed fully open with the clamp in the box. This is the rule that makes a vented set safe; the fire's exhaust goes up the chimney like a wood fire's.
• Doors: open or removed whenever the burner runs.
• Burner: set on the grate in the center of the firebox, the logs placed by the diagram in the box, embers scattered on the burner, sand or vermiculite in the pan for natural gas, lava rock for propane.
• Controls: a match-light burner uses the fireplace's key valve; a safety-pilot burner has its own valve and knob; an electronic burner takes batteries in the control box or a 110-volt outlet inside the firebox for the plug-in version, and the remote pairs once.
• Codes: match-light burners are not allowed in some cities; the installer knows which. Most jurisdictions want the inspection.