Gel Fuel is a substance that’s just starting to come into wide use inside the home. Gel Fuel is an isopropyl-alcohol based substance that burns without giving off smoke or odors, and doesn’t require a vent to be installed above the fireplace. Gel Fuel’s primary use is in ventless fireplaces, but it’s also widely used in indoor catering as well to keep food warm for long periods of time. But as far as the application for gel fuel in ventless fireplaces goes, the application is pretty amazing. Imagine being able to install a fireplace that doesn’t need a vent!
I think we’re all suckers for a good fire every now and again, especially on a cold night where indoor coziness is required. Gel fuel even crackles like a normal wood burning fire. And one little container of gel fuel burns for about 3 hours. The cool part is, installing a fireplace for gel fuel doesn’t even require demolition. If you get creative, you can build a modern fireplace in a lot of different ways. The greatest thing about ventless fireplaces is that they can be freestanding. There are companies online that sell freestanding ventless fireplaces that sit against the wall and give off the appearance that they’re actually a part of the wall itself. These require no installation or demolition whatsoever, and still give off the beauty of a regular fireplace.
But I think the main reason why I like gel fuel is because of the added value it can bring to a home. I’m soon to be in the market for a fixer-upper condo. When I buy it, I’ll not only be replacing all the old, rundown aspects, I’ll be looking for cheap ways of installing new features to up the property value. And you can be very sure that if it doesn’t already have a fireplace, I’ll be installing a ventless fireplace for gel fuel use.
One of the best things about gel fuel is its simplicity. Gel fuel can be made safely at home and ready for use. Just like wax candles, gel fuel can be created in large quantities for those who don’t want to spent the coin. It’s combustible property is just isopropyl alcohol, which is the same thing as rubbing alcohol. It generally sells for about $1 per quart so it’s very economical. After that, you will also need to use a thickening compound that turns the isopropyl alcohol into a gel. There’s some debate on what the best thing to use for this is. Some have said that soy wax will do the trick. But more people seem to like a substance called calcium acetate, which can actually also be made at home, but is very cheap to buy as well. It costs about $40 for 500 g, but that should last you a very long time. There are many different recipes for making various forms of calcium acetate, using both ethanol and alcohol, but in order to get it into its purest form, it’s better just to buy it.
After you’ve gotten the calcium acetate, combining it all is pretty simple. The entire solution must be comprised of over ninety percent alcohol, or it won’t catch on fire and burn. Combine 2 parts water to every 3 parts calcium acetate and stir them until the substance is dissolved. To make enough to fill a couple of soup cans, mix 2 cups of water with 3 cups of calcium acetate and dissolve it. Then pour the substance into the soup can until 10% of the can is full. Then fill the rest of the 90% with the rubbing alcohol. The substance will thicken and gel on its own. And just like that, you have your own gel fuel!
One extra tip. If you want the gel fuel to crackle just like a normal wood fire, you have to add something to it that will pop when the fire gets to it. Oil and water work very well for this. Take 1 tsp of oil and 2 tsp of water for each of the cans, and mix them together into the gel; this makes the fire crackle occasionally just like a regular wood fire. It’s pretty neat. I hope you enjoy!
I really hope you enjoyed this article about gel fuel and its applications with ventless fireplaces. It’s a pretty exciting new technology. For more, go to: http://hubpages.com/hub/Gel-Fuel
Article Source: Gel Fuel for Home Use
