Gas Fireplace in Apartment?

[Atous]

Hello all!

I will be moving into an apartment with my Sun very soon. This apartment has a gas fireplace (one that doesn't burn wood at all) I found this article that suggest Pepe should be fine if he's not in the room with us while using it. However, it also says if the inside is coated with certain materials it could kill him. Would the apartment/maintenance man know what the inside of the fire places is coated with?

As a side question, do any of you currently live in an apartment with a parrot that also has a fireplace like this? I would be interested in your experience with them!

Thank you for your time <3

My source: Birds and Gas Fireplaces

 

[Macaw Lover]

I would not count on the maintenance man knowing if it would be safe for a bird. Most people will automatically think 'yes', because it can be safe for dogs and cats, but birds are a whole different set of requirements and most people won't know. Slight chance that he know the manufacturer that you could contact to do your own digging but even that is a remote thing for the guy be able to tell you.

 

[Clueless]

We have a gas fireplace in our house and I don't think we've used it since the parrots moved in.

The parrot's have been here 5 years though, so we may have in the early days when I was totally "clueless" about birds.

 

[JLcribber]

A "properly" installed and vented modern fireplace is not any more dangerous than the furnace in your house. Being a gas fireplace it is "illegal" for any gas fumes to enter the room as it would not just kill the birds but kill you too. Most modern fireplaces are what we call two chamber. Which means the firebox air/gas/fumes never mix with the air that is being heated for the room. It comes from the second chamber.

Take a picture of it and show us what the front of it looks like.

Here's a previous thread on the same subject.

Ceramic gas logs | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[Atous]

[QUOTE="

Take a picture of it and show us what the front of it looks like.
[/QUOTE]

This is the best picture I could get, we only have video so I stole it from their website.
Also, Macaw Lover, I wasn't intending on asking them if it was safe for bird, I know they probably wouldn't know. Well, I'm more like learning that people just don't really know because birdies are just so flipping special But getting the manufacture would be perfect! If any one knew what was coated inside it should be them. Then, I could use that info to determine its safety range.

Thank you guys and thank you for the extra thread

 

[Atous]

I can take a better picture later, but can I tell by looking at it if it is vented? So far what Im reading is unless its vented its not safe.
Also, if carbon monoxide was an issue would our detector be able to notify us before Pepe dies or just us humans?

 

[JLcribber]

Not just vented (which basically means the chimney) but a gas fire place should really have glass doors on it.

If you could find out the age of the fireplace that would be most helpful.

Better pictures please. From this picture it looks pretty old (one chamber system). The way those work is they suck fresh air from the room and exhaust it up the chimney. They are purely for visual appeal because when it gets cold out it sucks ask the warm air from the room up the chimney. You may feel some radiant heat from the flame but the air flow is into the fireplace and up the chimney. Their efficiency is actually a minus rating.

Look on the outside of the fireplace for a vent/grill where it draws fresh air from outside (which I doubt it has). A modern efficient system would have vents/grills inside and out so as to never mix inside and outside air.

 

[AnnaAlice]

I suggest that you go with fireplaces with glass doors on it. As JLcribber said gas fire mostly have glass doors on it. Most of the modern fireplaces designs have glass doors (http://www.waldenhomes.ca/walden5ives-dissecting-5-modern-fireplace-designs). If you don't have any glass doors, you could just renovate it. Either you have to add glass doors or shift your fireplace to the outdoors.

 

[iamwhoiam]

I don't know about other states but in CA there is now a law that if you have a gas fireplace the damper must be permanently clamped in the open position. This happened because people were not opening it when they used the fireplace.