Some people are more sensitive to smell with vent free then others. IF the logs are placed exactly how the manufacture states they should be you could be getting flame impingment. That is the flame licks a log where its not supposed to be and doesnt combust completly. If everything is right, then its likly that you are to sensitive to the smell. Not much else to go wrong with them in regards to incomplete combustion. If thats the case, you can crack the damper and not loose all your heat, but loose some of the smell.

We had non-vented logs in our last house and never had a problem with smelling them. I do know that when you push the lighter, the whole log set moves around, so maybe they are not in the right position now?

If the logs are concrete, they should be nothched to fit, if there ceramic the typically have pins that they sit on. Get your owners manual and verify log placement and check the notches on the logs as well. Is there any sooting at all on any of the logs? that will tell you right away that they arent in the proper position. Take all the logs out and see if you smell anything.

I was in a fireplace seller 11/2/2021 and one of the log reps was talking to the owner. I tried to overhear the conversation. I heard the rep say that older and cheaper logs where made of some composite, but their company’s logs were now made of concrete. Thus the odor the other logs material makes. Being that my logs were made in 2005 probably explains the odor we have been enduring for all these years. Sounds like the manufacturers know this was an issue, and are keeping it hush hush. I tried researching this when I got home, but it’s vague about gas logs causing the odor. Some articles say that the logs can cause the odor, yet still point fingers at many other variables. So, when not one article is written by a log manufacturer about log odor (most written by resellers and chimney cleaners), it’s says to me their lips are sealed, yet they are aware they are quilts if they have changed the make-up of the product.