Gas fire running costs

snootycat

Does anyone have any idea of the average running cost of a flame effect open fire? I have just moved house from one that had a flame effect fire, and now have an open fire which I intend to run on any wood I can lay my hands on. However a chimney needs sweeping, I am told once a year, and that costs £50., Does this £50 a year cost negate the advantage of running an open fire with free wood?

snootycat

I am not going to buy a gas fire. I used to have the open flame one, I was just wondering if that would have cost more than £50 a year to run for average use, so am I saving money I asked myself? I never worked out how much it cost to run my fire in my old house.I thought that it should be cheaper here if I am not paying for fuel but forgot that the chimney would need sweeping.

snootycat

I dont have a make or model unfortunately as it was in the house when I arrived. I realise it approximate but I was looking for a rough comparison I suppose, but if its not possible then I guess I will have to leave it at that.
Thanks

KimYeovil

A typical gas fire uses 2 to 6 kWh and has an efficiency of anything from 50 to 90%.

For each four hour session say it has one hour at full blast then a third of the time over the rest. So four hours use uses two hours heat. So 2 hrs x 4 kWh x 4/3 (75% efficient).

So call that 11 kWh per evening or about 33p of gas per evening session. So that's £10 per month when used every day.

But that's just the back of my envelope. Real envelopes could be completely different and I may be way off.

KimYeovil

(Where do you plan to steal the wood from? Don't forget to factor in the first couple of years where you'll have to buy wood whilst waiting for your 'liberated' wood to dry and season. And the petrol/food to transport the large volumes of wood. And the extra rent/mortgage to pay for the storage space. And a solely wood fire (rather than a coal fire) will probably need a couple of sweeps per year.)

snootycat

How helpful, thank you.

As regards the wood I am getting donations, I know people in the trade etc. As regards storage thats not a problem, I have a large garden and at the bottom is a covered area which is suitable. That only leaves the sweeps.I have put a notice up on the local freecycle cafe to ask if anyone knows a cheap chimney sweep. I remember talking to on woman who told me it cost her £30 when I was looking around at houses, but have lost touch with her. It seems this will be the only major outgoing.

snootycat

PS I think you should retract the suggestion that I am going to steal the wood!