As you probably know, direct vent devices are not designed PRIMARILY to produce a pretty flame. We have a Jotul gas insert which throws off a very nice flame here in NorthCarolina. One thing we have learned in this the first heating season with this unit is that, although a pretty flame is important and adds to the mood, you will want the unit to be thermostatically controlled because it throws out heat like a blast furnace, and your room will feel like a sauna unless you have a thermostat controlling your DV unit.

It's very hard to find dealers who have a broad selection of DV units on display that they can demonstrate. But it's worth the effort to take a trip to one if a really big dancing flame is very important to you. We wanted such a flame but decided that the efficient heating feature is more important to us so we can keep warm when there's an ice storm power outtage. We have a nice flame, but not the greatest. When we were shopping around the one unit we saw that gave the very best flame is made by Eiklor, a Chicago based firm, but that one is not DV and, since efficient heating was a priority for us, we turned it down.

Happy hunting.