These are gas forges. They use propane to heat these, and it works similar to a grill. You turn on the propane, open the valve, and use the clicky-lighty-redish-thingy (technical term) to light it. Fun fact: if you leave the valve open for 20 seconds, then light it, you get a massive tongue of fire shooting about a foot and a half to two feet out of the forge.
So, pros and cons again.
Pros - it's easier to light than a coal forge.
Don't get too excited, it'll still take your face off if you're dumb about it. Like I said, tongues of fire.
Anyway, it also runs cooler than a coal forge. This means that you can leave your piece in the furnace all day long and it won't burn. Meaning you can take breaks while forging to help others in the shop. Or, y'know, have a quick dance party.
Now, as to the cons.
First of all, they're small. This means that if you're working on a bigger piece, you can just forget it.
Secondly, they do run cooler than coal forges, so if you want the metal at its hottest non-burning point (very light yellow, almost white), you're out of luck.
The gas forge seems to be used frequently for hollow pipe pieces, because pipe is so fickle to begin with.
So, there you have it! Gas forges!
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