A couple of years ago I saw an image of a wall-hanging flueless fireplace for the first time. I haven't been able to shake the desire for something similar to grace a wall in my home.

The new home we're moving into has at least two or three walls that would make ideal locations for such a warming and visual center piece. Some models of these devices actually do use a flue of one or another design which I wouldn't mind installing just for this purpose if needed.

Such a fireplace would be fed by Natural Gas which is already piped to the home and would already be running my furnace and range. We even have an extra wide gas line to support this type of extra device.

But wouldn't you know it? Can't find anything even remotely similar* in Canada or the US. Almost all brands are available in the UK and many throughout the rest of Europe.

Ok, I have found some wall-hanging products in Canada that consume ethanol based fuel. This isn't the ideal always-plumbed installation I'd like though.

Here are some examples of the devices I'm talking about:

Stovax / Gazco Wall Mounted Fires
ESSE Firewall
Superior Fires
CK Fires

Anyone have any links for additional products or North American dealers? I have seen quite a few other brands but didn't save their links...

[ edit: Woot! While writing this I chanced upon a link that ended up being from NY in the US for Wittus who seem to carry the Superior Fires stuff. ]

My guess is that it would be a code violation. In most places there is a minimum distance between a fireplace and any wood. My guess is that your home is built with wood studs, so the distance would be only a few inches at most. I'd ask your builder about it.

I'm somehow missing out on what the problem is (?).

Pretty much any direct venting gas fireplace is normally "wall" mounted. Usually only 4-6 inches up the wall, but there's not much about them to prevent it being higher up.

??

Mark, click on the links. I know most traditional aftermarket fireplace are wall mounted, but I'm looking for sealed units that look similar to the ones in the links I included. Very contemporary and simple designs. Many traditional units are also inserts that don't mount on the surface of the wall imbed in it.

I just added the Esse link which I had previously forgotten. They also make other products which, unlike their Firewall, are available in North America.

Bitt, with some models you're absolutely right, they may not be to code. In most cases you'll also want something that carries the right approvals so you don't burn (no pun intended) your insurance coverage. That's why I'm looking for similar products here in North America rather than importing something myself. Codes exist in the UK and other places as well of course. The units I'm looking at all feature 0" rear clearance requirements.

The last link I provided for the guys in New York seem to list products with North American approvals and safety inspections. They've been importing for 30 years and probably have everything certified themselves.

Now if I can get one of these bad-boys, my next step would then be hooking it up to my network and get it working as a display for my Squeezebox and Slimserver. Seeing the details of the currently playing track written in flames would just be the ultimate. I know something like that already exists for the empeg.