Flueless gas fire or wood burning stove?

dori2o

A little off topic but I remember seeing an advert for Flueless Gas Fires in the plumbers merchants a few years ago when labouring for my brother. Had to laugh at the irony.

'Our Flueless Gas Fire prices are to die for.'

My brother had one fitted but took it out as he said it cost too much to run

owly1

Hi

I have had both !

In my previous house I had a mains gas, balanced flue fire which was clean and very efficient and its biggest advantage was immediate heat build up [and close down]
Down side is the increasing price of gas and I suspect non mains gas could be smally if not balanced flue
My woodburner is ace but there are some considerations :
wood needs to be stored and fully aged [seasoned] before burning [otherwise resin cooks out and condenses in the chimney / liner which is dangerous] and
Woodburners light quick but are not "switch on or off" but unlike an open fire 80% of the heat is put out into the room and 20% up the chimney [open fires are the other way round

However I delight in the fact that once going my woodburner is so hot and efficient that it heats the whole house. I have thermostatic radiators on my central heating which means when we have a wood fire we use very little gas throughout the house.
I also delight in the fact that its a green renewable fuel that has not increased pricewise anything like other energies and has no reliance on Russian supply. The ashes from wood correctly burnt are small and ideal for the garden.

I could go on [and ask me more if u want] but to me its a matter of time :
Nothing beats the long lasting glow of the woodburner on a cold night when you are staying in but if you need quick heat for a couple of hours then gas is an expensive but suitable heat.

keystone

dori2o wrote: »

Had to laugh at the irony.

'Our Flueless Gas Fire prices are to die for.'

:rotfl::rotfl:You are right to raise it. Post #7 - rinse and repeat.

Cheers

shadybrady

The simple issue is that if you can get your hands on a good supply of dry wood and have somewhere to store it then get a woodburning stove, if you dont have the space or cant get lots of cheap wood then get gas.

I am just about to have a second wood burning stove installed and the missus and I think they're great, the health warnings are blown way out of proportion especially if you live in cities and are regularly exposed to traffic fumes !!

The wood stove installation would need to adhere to Document J Building regs and would need minimum distances from any combustibles so your exisitng hearth would need to be big enough to give the required distance from the front of the stove to the wooden floor.

With your existing chimney you would need it swept first, then most installers would recommend getting it lined (a flexible flue liner fitted in the chimney) - this alone would be about £1000 for materials and labour.

Then your stove costs of about £300 - £1500 depending on the stove manufacturer.

The vent in your room is now a requirement of document J and MUST be installed to provide an air source as the stove would take its air supply from the room UNLESS you fit a stove with an external air supply then you dont need a vent fitted.

Adam

suisidevw

Or your stove is under 5kw I believe........ the vent I mean....?

jenny-wren

We have seen a small Defra exempt 4.6kW Olymberyl wood burning stove that we like. Bye bye hideous old fashioned open fire!

My OH seem to think that the builder told him it would only cost around £280 to line the flue including packing it with vermiculite. The stove shop told us that the way the builder described lining the chimney was correct but, without checking with the builder, is the price likely to be correct?

Karmaman

We had a woodburning stove of 6kw installed...excellent decision. Whilst fairly costly to intall due to the type of marble hearth we wanted and the fire itself (a firebelly FB1), i wouldnt look back.

More expensive than the flueless gas fire to put in, but it is now the focal point of the room and gives off a great heat!

Also, it means i can get the pyromaniac manly insticts out of me!