Safety is a leading question for fireplace customers and its one of the principles that HearthCabinet was founded on. HearthCabinet Ventless Fireplaces was started in 2004 by Arthur Lasky, an architect, and Michael Weinberger, an inventor and product liability attorney. They wanted people to be able to enjoy having a fireplace anywhere, even in homes and buildings that can’t accommodate wood or gas fireplace installations. So, they set out to create an extremely safe product, and one that could be easily installed almost anywhere. 

As background, there are several different types of ventless fireplaces and they vary by type of fuel used. There are ones that use propane or natural gas, there are electric models, and there are models that use alcohol gel cartridges. A HearthCabinet® Ventless Fireplace uses alcohol gel cartridges and that’s what this post will cover because we believe that type of fuel is very safe to use. 

About Gel Fuel Cartridges 

HearthCabinet Ventless Fireplaces use a patented eco-friendly alcohol gel fuel cartridges that ensure safe use and a real crackling flame. There is no smoke, embers, ash, or debris. No connections of any kind needed unlike a wood or gas fireplace. The fuel is a clean-burning mixture of isopropyl alcohol and water, with a little thickening agent, and is similar to hospital-grade hand sanitizers or chafing fuels. HearthCabinet uses isopropyl alcohol instead of ethanol alcohol for the better flame it produces and because the single-use cartridges ensure you never have to worry about touching, pouring or mixing fuel.  

Fuel cartridges are always safely nestled in a cartridge holder behind a locked safety screen. Lit with a long fireplace match or a butane lighter, the cartridges can be extinguished at any time with snuffer plates (cartridges stop burning on their own after about two hours but no fire should be left unattended). Empty aluminum fuel cartridges can be tossed in the recycling bin after they’ve cooled. As lively as a wood fire in appearance, each cartridge lasts approximately two hours. 

What makes HearthCabinet Ventless Fireplaces particularly safe is the locked safety firebox. Every unit has a thin rigid steel mesh screen that allows for airflow and prevents inadvertent contact with the flame; the lock ensures that it can’t be opened by mistake. You can see the beautiful flame through the screen, but once you close the lock the screen, the fire is 100% secure. HearthCabinet Ventless Fireplaces has a select line of standard models designed to meet UL Standard 1370, the UL standard for unvented alcohol fuel burning decorative appliances. 

The combination of the Locked Safety Screen™ and our Safety Gel Cartridges™ produces an extremely safe fireplace system. In fact, to our knowledge, HearthCabinet Ventless Fireplaces are the ONLY ventless fireplaces approved for use in New York City by the New York City Department of Buildings and the Fire Department of New York City. 

For more on the safety of HearthCabinet Ventless Fireplaces, contact our team or visit our website.