OPEN FIRE is going - GAS or Wood Burning STOVE???

ShefBlue77

Hi All,

I've read a few of the posts on here about stove's with interest as we are getting rid of our Open Fireplace as downstairs living room is too bloody cold (open fire = draughts + pain to light / single glazed bay window / near the front door) - and i've heard 80% of the heat goes up the chimney...

What do people think is the best option for heat / efficiency / cost of our front room...

1) Wood / Solid Fuel Burning Stove

or

2) Gas Fire

Both will make the chimney less draughty but what are the relative costs // i imagine that the stove would take a lot longer to heat up??

Opinions will be greatly appreciated - perhaps someone has a better idea of what to do with our open fireplace

Thanks

renewable_ltd

Maybe the cheapest thing would be to make up an insulating cover that you can put over the fireplace when it is not in use, then remove when you want a fire?

You can get cheap secondary glazing, basically just strong cling-film, for the window from any DIY shop. Have you insulated around the front door frame, too?

The Energy Saving Trust, http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/ helps householders save energy. A decent wood stove will cost you about £1,000 - a gas fire would be cheaper. Not sure which would have lower running cost, but I'm guessing gas would be cheaper unless you have a source of bargain logs. The EST have a free helpline on 0800 512012 who may be able to give you a definitive answer.

Ken68

Hi Shef...a good point, would love to know how to prevent residual heat going up the chimney at night.
Sheet metal closures, perhaps.

John_3:16

First you ahve to consider if you can get enough wood to run a woodburner. If so I would go for that rafther than gas.

Whatever you put there will loose a little heat up the chimney even when off.

Woodburner is cheaper with free wood but not if you have to buy.
Gas is more user friendly

Snow_Dog

I prefer a woodburner for a couple of reasons:-
1. Its a lovely focal point in the lounge.
2. You control the fuel supply, we had a power cut last year that lasted for several days which meant no boiler running. If there is a gas cut then no boiler or gas fire, but with the woodburner you can usually find some wood somewhere. Worst case is go saw up some pallets.

moonrakerz

I have an open fire in my present house burning wood/coal. It makes a wonderful focal point, BUT wood/coal is not cheap and it is a bit dirty and messy to keep up. Also as has been pointed out an open fire places "pulls in" the draughts - if it didn't, it wouldn't work !

I am about to move house, this has an old gas fire in the lounge and I had the choice of removing it and using the hearth for an open fire or getting a more modern gas fire.
After much hunting around have decided on a modern gas fire:
http://www.valor.co.uk/valor/website.nsf/getproduct/AF9D3F5A17F9F19E80256FD50055EF1F?OpenDocument&nav1=consumer&nav2=product

These fires are incredibly realistic, they not only look like a coal fire but unlike many gas fires there is no hissing sound from the gas. They claim to be 55% efficient so only 45% of the heat goes up the chimney. The actual output is rated at 3.8kW which is fair bit of heat. An open fire must be a lot less efficient than this.
There are some flueless gas fires which are 100% efficient, but these discharge all the combustion products into the room. They do require additional ventilation and there are still some concerns about the health aspects of these - they are not recommended for athsma sufferers.
Some of the very decorative wall mounted gas fires are very inefficient, only 20% or less - fine for a feature, but not much use for heat.

Did consider a woodburning stove as well, but the Building Regs for these can be quite complex, depending on where you want to fit one. It certainly isn't a case of just sticking one in the fireplace ! To get the full benefit of one of these it ideally needs to be free-standing, not actually in a fire place. It needs to be on a fireproof base, this base must project 12" in front of the fire, etc, etc.

Would suggest a visit to a good fireplace store - who has them "lit up", as well.

ShefBlue77

Thanks guys - lots of good suggestions here which is much appreciated - definitely going to head to a Fireplace shop to get some more advice...

Moonraker - what are the building regs like for the gas fire you are getting? - do you need to increase the non combustible material below the gas fire??? I don't think our front room could support thick concrete slabs without strengthening from in the cellar underneath.... also our fireplace currently has a wooden surround - this would definitely have to go for a stove as they kick out a lot of heat - what are the clearance distances for the gas fire if that makes sense??

still feeling 50/50 on the stove / gas fire issue - but will definitely make a temporary fireplace cover for when we are not using the open fire

Thanks again

moonrakerz

The old fireplace had a wooden/hardboard surround - wouldn't comply with present regs, have ripped that out completely. Am buying a complete marble fire surround and hearth to fit the fire.
Again, get advice - the one I am getting is suitable for my new gas fire but would not be suitable for an open fire.
I don't think the floor layer has to be thick, just non-combustible !
I don't know what the actual distances are for a fire, I got a "Corgi" man in, showed him the old fireplace, gave him a description of what I intended to fit - he was happy with that and gave me a price to do it. I have the fire, just waiting for the surround then he will fit it for me.

Most of the Building Regs you can find through Google.

Good luck !

beer2006

We'd just had a woodburner fitted and I'm learning how to use one again.
Does anyone here use a fan behind their woodburner to cycle the heat? I'm interested in feedback on it.

John_3:16

I have thought about this I have tried to have a fan away from the fire to help the air flow but the noise is a little intrusion.

fsdss

we had an open fire orginally, our house has 2 x 12 ft bay windows in the lounge and it is bl00dy cold.

we opted for gas because of the mess /cost of coal etc BUT regretted it since the day we had all the work done.

5 years on we have had a multi fuel burning stove fitted and a plate (made from the local ironworker) to fit flush to the pipe chimney opening to cut out draughts to/from the chimney (yes its legal as we sought advice and have had an inspector from the council).

we are delighted with the stove - far easier to clean than the open fire- cheaper to run as we source our own wood and use good quality coal and have turned off our central heating.