New Fire - Gas or Electric?

stellastar_2

Hi, we're planning on replacing out ugly 70's fire with something bit more modern and are wondering if it's best to replace with a new gas fire or to get the pipe capped and have an electric fire installed?

The electric one is cheaper initially, but I've heard that gas can be more efficient in terms of heating the room? Ideally we want the best long term option.

We will also be replacing the boiler as our current fire is a baxi bermuda back boiler thing and the new fire fronts are ugly and expensive and since the boiler is rather old and has had a leak we thought way may be best getting it replaced. The new boiler will need to be moved elsewhere and I just dont know what the best/cheapest/easier solution is for the fire.

tobykim

I don't really know but I think electric fires would be expensive to run, we recently got a halogen heater for a caravan and I am hoping that using it in the house occasionally won't be expensive.
As for the fire we recently got one of these http://www.valor.co.uk/VALOR/website.nsf/getproduct/99B64CEAD786700A802571CD003B25FA?OpenDocument&nav1=consumer&nav2=product
they can be expensive to buy but I'm hoping that it'll be cheaper to run than the old open fronted one we had, time will tell as it hasn't been on much yet, I found it cheaper by shopping around

Dobiesmon

Hi
Well I my not be able to help but but I have always had a gas fire in the front room yes its old and now the council want to change it to elect ( no dou't because they won't have to service them ) sorry but I like a gas fire , but my friend ( not council ) has had a new elect fire put in and she likes it she has the little fan and light on as it looks cosy .

stellastar_2

Thanks for the replies, I guess I'll get a better idea of what is easier/cheaper to install once I get a quote.

I had a vague idea that gas fires were more efficent and gave off a better heat, but there is a wider choice of cheaper electric fires so I was hoping that would be best, but really I have no clue!

tobykim

As an update to my previous post, we have been using the fire over the last few nights put on medium to start then turn it right down as low as it'll go and the room is lovely and warm, I'm very pleased with it, I'll be even more pleased if it's costing me less to run, won't find that out till next month

Pssst

The gas fire is the better bet. Its likly to be cheaper to run simply because gas is a primary fuel whereas electric is secondary i.e you have to burn fuels such as gas to make electric!

Also a gas fire gives a more cheery glow to your room.

Try and look out for a new gas fire which has a cast iron heat exchanger such as Baxi. They hold the heat better and stay warm for longer when turned off or on low..

mech_2

stellastar wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, I guess I'll get a better idea of what is easier/cheaper to install once I get a quote.

I had a vague idea that gas fires were more efficent and gave off a better heat, but there is a wider choice of cheaper electric fires so I was hoping that would be best, but really I have no clue!

Installation costs are likely to favour electric heating. Running costs may favour gas, but not necessarily.

Electric heaters are always 100% efficient. Gas fires vary in efficiency enormously. You really need to pick a gas fire you know the efficiency figures for if you want to make a comparison on running costs. There's no legislation demanding a minimum efficiency (as with heating boilers), so you can still buy a 30% efficient gas fire and, depending on your energy tariffs, it could be more expensive to run than an electric fire. I pay about 8.8p per unit for electricity and about 3p per unit for gas. A 30% efficient gas fire would therefore cost me 10p for the same amount of heat as 8.8p of electricity. An 80% efficient gas fire would cost only 3.75p.

Also note that when set on low, gas fires tend to be significantly less efficient. Even a 60% efficient gas fire may only be 35% efficient on low, so it's better to have it on for short bursts on high than constantly on low.

There are such things as flueless gas fires, but personally I'm not in favour of them. Theoretically they're 100% efficient, but the level of ventilation needed to avoid the likelihood of carbon monoxide poisoning means that in practice they're not that efficient as the room must lose more heat through ventilation. With the possibility that the ventilation could at some later date be impaired or obstructed, making carbon monoxide poisoning a possibility, I wouldn't risk it. Also I've heard they can cause problems with condensation.

stellastar_2

Thanks Mech, that's really helpful. Still quite a lot to think about, I know I definitely wouldn't go flueless, I'd be too paranoid!
The one fire we had decided we wnated when we had the survey done the guy did comment that it wouldn't really give out much heat so I had decided that I'd rather pay more for a higher efficency fire
In terms of installation costs if we're getting the boiler replaced we're probably as well going gas and getting the whole lot done together by the one company - once you think about the boiler costs the fire costs dont seem to large anyway!