The company claims that the Aqueon is actually safer to operate than traditionally fueled fireplaces. This is because the hydrogen fuel that the fireplace uses is stored safely and conveniently as liquid water until it is needed and then it is separated into hydrogen and oxygen only as fast as it is burned in the fireplace. This eliminates the expense and potential safety issues that would arise if the hydrogen was stored as a compressed gas.

When the water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen the result is a perfect Stoichiometric mixture. In other words, all of the Oxygen needed to burn the hydrogen is being produced from the water by the electrolysis unit at the same time as the hydrogen. So, unlike fireplaces that use traditional fuels, no oxygen is consumed from the air and therefore no outside exhaust or ventilation is needed. The only by-product of burning hydrogen and oxygen together is water vapor. There are no greenhouse gases such as Carbon Dioxide or potentially lethal poisons such as Carbon Monoxide produced by this fireplace as there are in any hydrocarbon burning fireplace.

I talked to Jason Burch, Vice President at Fuelcellstore.com and he said that, without taking cost into consideration, he thought the design of the fireplace was "really nice looking" and added that "the fact that it incorporates an electrolyzer within it makes it extremely user friendly. Most devices that use hydrogen fuel tend to leave it up to the buyer to find a place to buy their hydrogen. So this (fireplace) has a definite advantage in that respect".

While the Aqueon may not be for everyone at this time, the overall concept behind it seems to be a glimpse into a possible future in which at least some of our energy needs are being provided for by hydrogen produced from water. After all, water is the single largest potential source of stored hydrogen fuel on this planet, and when hydrogen and oxygen are produced from water using solar or wind energy and then burned together they turn back into water making it a totally clean and endlessly renewable energy resource.