Beachcomber Vent Free Gas Logs
Six hand-painted Burncrete refractory logs in a driftwood stack, sized 18", 24" or 30", supplied with the Monessen Natural Blaze vent free burner they are built for — 29,000 BTU/hr on the 18" natural gas burner, 37,000 on the 24" — with millivolt standing-pilot or IntelliFire Plus battery ignition, no chimney and no household power, from $1,378. It needs a fireplace or vent-free firebox at least 26" wide at the front and 14-1/2" deep, and it carries a 5-year warranty on burner and logs.
Choose Beachcomber if you want a coastal, driftwood look instead of an oak stack, you want the logs and the Natural Blaze burner in one order, and your masonry fireplace, factory-built fireplace or vent-free firebox gives the set 26" of front width and 14-1/2" of depth for the 18" set (29" and 33" wide for the 24" and 30"), 42" to the ceiling and 9" to a sidewall.
It is not right if you need a primary heat source, if the room is a bedroom or bathroom, if the fireplace is shallower than 14-1/2" or has a glass-door frame taller than 3" in front of the logs, if you cannot give it 42" to the ceiling and 9" to a sidewall, or if you want to run it with the glass doors closed. The logs are sized for the Natural Blaze burner only — they are not a replacement set for another burner.
Specifications
Minimum fireplace size with the burner and logs is 26" wide at the front, 20-1/4" at the rear, 14-1/2" deep and 17" high for the 18" set; the 24" set needs 29" of front width and 23-1/4" at the rear, the 30" set 33" and 25-1/4", at the same depth and height. A glass-door frame up to 3" tall in front of the logs raises the depth to 16-1/2"; anything taller is not recommended. Sidewalls stay 9" from the opening, the ceiling 42" above it, and the facing above the opening must be non-combustible — 12" or more of it, or 8" to 12" with the optional adjustable hood. A combustible mantel needs 14" of clearance at 3" deep up to 23" at 12" deep (8" to 17" with the hood). Combustible flooring other than carpet or vinyl may run to the opening; carpet or vinyl stays 14" back. The 18" burner draws 29,000 BTU/hr on natural gas or 28,000 on propane, the 24" burner 37,000 or 36,000, on standard gas pressures — 5" to 10" w.c. inlet for natural gas, 11" to 13" for propane — with no 120 V connection.
Beachcomber vs. the other Natural Blaze Deluxe log sets
All four Deluxe Series sets mount on the same Natural Blaze burner and need the same minimum fireplace size, so the choice is the look. Berkley Oak is a seven-piece oak stack in refractory (from $1,238) or ceramic fiber (from $1,198); Highland Oak (from $1,238) is a seven-piece low-profile set built around the glowing-ember look; Stony Creek (from $1,268) is the tallest, an eleven-piece stack for bigger fireplaces. Beachcomber, from $1,378, is the six-piece driftwood set — the one to pick for a coastal or contemporary room rather than a traditional oak fire.
Features
- Driftwood-style six-piece Burncrete refractory log set — hand-painted, with the sharp detail and strength of refractory cement
- Natural Blaze burn system: taller, lively yellow flames over a glowing rock-wool ember bed on a cast-iron grate
- Millivolt standing pilot or IntelliFire Plus battery ignition — neither needs household power, so it runs through an outage
- Oxygen depletion sensor (ODS) safety pilot shuts the burner down if the room runs short of fresh air
- Listed as an unvented room heater and as a vented gas log set — installs in a masonry fireplace, a UL127 factory-built fireplace or a listed vent-free firebox
- Supplemental heat up to 37,000 BTU/hr on the 24" burner, 29,000 on the 18"
Answers to common questions
What’s included, what’s required, and what’s optional?
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Included in the box: Six Beachcomber Burncrete refractory logs - rear, front left, front center, right, top left and center top; Natural Blaze vent free burner - every configuration on this page ships one, the 18" burner for the 18" set and the 24" burner for the 24" and 30" sets, in its millivolt standing-pilot or IntelliFire Plus form with the matching controls. The burner carton holds its grate, on/off switch, two bags of lava rock, rock wool, flex line and fittings (IntelliFire Plus burners add the RC300 remote). Monessen packages the logs and the burner separately, so the order arrives as two cartons.
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Required to complete the installation, purchased separately: Gas supply - a 3/8" line with a listed shutoff, run and purged by a qualified installer; an external regulator on propane and on high-pressure natural gas systems; Approved fireplace or vent-free firebox - a masonry fireplace, UL127 factory-built fireplace or listed vent-free firebox meeting the minimum hearth dimensions.
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Optional: Remote and thermostat controls for the millivolt burners (RCB on/off remote, TSST thermostat remote with TS sensor — thermostat control is allowed in unvented installations only, never when the set is run vented — or the HILOKTN/HILOKTP variable-flame kit), the CABL adjustable hood that reduces wall and mantel clearances, the RRCM insulated receiver cover and VR1000A volcanic rock — the set operates without them.
Is this vent free, and can I use it in a fireplace with a working chimney?
Yes to both. The Natural Blaze burner is listed as an unvented room heater, so no chimney is needed; it is also listed as a vented gas log set, run with the chimney and damper open to the free area required for the chimney height (a thermostat is not allowed in a vented installation). Unvented, it installs in a solid-fuel masonry fireplace, a UL127 factory-built fireplace whose instructions permit unvented logs, or a listed vent-free firebox whose hearth meets the minimum dimensions; run vented, it may go in a masonry or UL127 factory-built fireplace only, not a vent-free firebox.
Where can it be installed, and how big does the room need to be?
Not in a bedroom or bathroom — every Natural Blaze burner exceeds the 10,000 BTU/hr limit for those rooms — and not where curtains, furniture or clothing sit within 36 inches of the front, in a high-traffic area, or in a windy or drafty spot. The room must not be a confined space: the National Fuel Gas Code allows 50 cubic feet per 1,000 BTU/hr, which works out to about 1,450 cubic feet for a 29,000 BTU/hr burner and 1,850 for a 37,000 BTU/hr burner, and the oxygen depletion sensor shuts the burner down if fresh air runs short. Because an unvented burner releases about an ounce of water vapor per 1,000 BTU of input each hour, Monessen rates it for supplemental heat, not as a primary heat source.
Which size fits my fireplace?
Measure the firebox: the 18" set on the 18" burner needs 26" of front width, 20-1/4" at the rear, 14-1/2" of depth and 17" of height; the 24" set needs 29" at the front and 23-1/4" at the rear, the 30" set 33" and 25-1/4", both at the same depth and height. Add 2" of depth if a glass-door frame up to 3" tall sits in front of the logs, and skip anything taller. The 18" set pairs with 32" fireboxes, the 24" with 36" models and the 30" with the 42" models, but the hearth dimensions are the real test.
Millivolt or IntelliFire Plus — which ignition should I pick?
Both work without household power. The millivolt burners keep a standing pilot lit by a piezo igniter and ship with a decorative on/off switch log; the On/Off Remote choice adds the RCB hand-held remote, the Thermostatic Remote adds the TSST touch-screen thermostat with a six-hour countdown timer and the TS sensor (unvented installations only), and the Variable Flame Remote adds the HILOKTN or HILOKTP Hi/Lo kit for flame height from the remote. IntelliFire Plus burners light the pilot only when you turn them on, run on four AA batteries and come with the RC300 multifunction remote, which controls the pilot, flame height and a room-temperature setting; the burner shuts itself off after nine hours without a command.
Can I use the variable-flame remote kit with Beachcomber logs?
Yes, on the millivolt burners. Monessen's Natural Blaze manual lists the HILOKTN and HILOKTP kits among the controls for the standing-pilot burners with no log-set restriction, and the 2026 price book excludes the kit from the Stony Creek set only — so we offer the combination here. The kit is not for IntelliFire Plus burners; those already adjust flame height from the RC300 remote that comes with them.
Is it approved for a manufactured or mobile home?
Yes. The burner may be installed in an aftermarket, permanently located manufactured (mobile) home where local codes do not prohibit it, and the listing covers the applicable sections of the standard for gas heating appliances in manufactured homes.
Does buying from The Torch Guys affect my Monessen warranty?
No. The Torch Guys is an authorized Monessen dealer, and Hearth & Home Technologies' limited warranty covers product bought through an authorized dealer: 5 years on vent-free burners and logs, 2 years on electrical components such as valves, pilots, modules and remotes, 1 year on other parts and on purchased accessories, transferable to a later owner of the home. Keep your invoice and the model and serial number from the tag on the burner and we handle the claim with the manufacturer for you.
