New Gas Fire should save ££££££

Ben84

ziggyman99 wrote: »

It's as good as. It's open flued.

Open flue gas appliances are not normally anywhere close to sending as much air up the chimney as an open fire does.

ziggyman99

Ben84 wrote: »

Open flue gas appliances are not normally anywhere close to sending as much air up the chimney as an open fire does.

I never said they did???? Read it.

uptomyeyeballs

I don't really expect the new fire to get used much before the end of the month, but i reckon that in winter (Dec-Feb), using it for 3 hours per night on medium setting will cost me around £15 max/month. Running my CH for 5 hours per day through 6 radiators would be about 3-4x as much (from past consumption figures)

Ben84

ziggyman99 wrote: »

I never said they did???? Read it.

Well, that must be it! I do sometimes struggle to finish reading posts that are more than six words long

Pincher

mjmal51 wrote: »

The Hydroflame looks very interesting, never seen anything like that before. If you used an existing fireplace how did you go on for the depth of the unit?
I have an existing coal effect electric fire in the fireplace (there when I moved in last year and never used) and the Hydroflame looks a lot better.

See page 73:

http://www.valor.co.uk/docs/FINAL_Valor_Combined_low_res.pdf

Also:

http://www.valorelectric.co.uk/valor/website.nsf/870%20Hydroflame%20Dream%20install%20and%20owner%20(5135617-02).pdf

An optional 50mm deep spacer frame kit is obtainable either from your heater supplier or direct from Valor Fires Sales. The kit number is 5135855.

http://www.smiths-env.com/

Valor re-badged the Smiths Hydroflame, and slapped on the DREAM fascia. Smiths does a FREESTANDING version, so you can lean it against any wall. The Valor DREAM is more fancy looking, but it only comes in the inset version.

I got the Valor Hydroflame Dream Gold for £424.56+VAT and free delivery, which is the lowest I could find, but it's still way too expensive for what it is: a radiator with a fan blowing on it, plus a 1.5kW electric element.

Valor expects you to get it installed by a fireplace specialist, who is supposed to buy it at trade prices. I got it retail, so maybe I shot myself in the foot by using my builder and plumber. If you can get it cheaper, please report.

uptomyeyeballs

Here's my usage for 12 months up to the begeinning of September 2011 (figures are extrapolated for September to month end). Coloured bars are this year's usage, white bars are last year's.

[IMG]http://www.neforum2.co.uk/images/Usage 001.jpg[/IMG]

uptomyeyeballs

Gave it a blast last night. On minimum setting, it raised the temperature of my living room by 3 degC in 20 minutes! I think my fire and I will be good friends this winter.

C_Mababejive

OP it sounds like a good plan.

Bear in mind that not that long ago..when Winterville arrived,we did stuff like putting on more clothes,shutting doors and windows and generally retreating to the living room where we had a roaring coal fire leaving the rest of the house to be somewhat cooler.

We then had a period of largesse where fuel was relatively cheap. We had full central heating throughout the house and flounced round in our t-shirts in December.

Those times are over and it is now time to return to the more traditional way of living in winterville.

I think fire manufacturers would do well to bring out models with thermostats again.

looks like a nice fire though. Would mind one in my home though unfortunately it doesnt have a chimney and its too much of a faff to put one in.

uptomyeyeballs

C_Mababejive wrote: »

OP it sounds like a good plan.

Bear in mind that not that long ago..when Winterville arrived,we did stuff like putting on more clothes,shutting doors and windows and generally retreating to the living room where we had a roaring coal fire leaving the rest of the house to be somewhat cooler.

We then had a period of largesse where fuel was relatively cheap. We had full central heating throughout the house and flounced round in our t-shirts in December.

Those times are over and it is now time to return to the more traditional way of living in winterville.

I think fire manufacturers would do well to bring out models with thermostats again.

looks like a nice fire though. Would mind one in my home though unfortunately it doesnt have a chimney and its too much of a faff to put one in.

I think you're right. The pressure is on to keep costs the same or reduce them, and the only way to do that if you're already insulated and draught proofed is to try to use less fuel.

I have worked out a typical usage pattern for my heating, based on when i'm at work, when i'm in bed, out of the house, etc., and I reckoned on circa 43 hours of heating per week. The inefficient boiler ran for all of this time last winter. This winter, it will run for 21 hours per week, and the fire will be on for the other 22 hours. This WILL use less gas, and I expect that to be 20-30% less. Some of my rooms will be colder, but they'll be ones i'm not occupying.

The cost of my gas at current tariff is £330 per year, so I expect to use around £100 per year less. Although the learned gentleman further up the thread tells me my figures are flawed, i'm confident that I can achieve them based on this heating plan.

uptomyeyeballs

I've still only had the fire on for a couple of hours so far, but it heats the room up very quickly, and I find that even after switching off, the temperature only drops about 0.5 degC in the next hour. I like to keep the living room in the 19-20 degC range, and tend to wear a sweatshirt in the house.

Last October I used 482 kWh of Gas. This month so far it's 57 kWh.