Gas Fire - No Chimney

sandieb

I currently have an older style balanced flue fire in the living room which I want to replace.

I had in mind an open style gas fire which requires a powerflue. But now I am undecided!

The open style gas fire with the powerflue requires electricity to run the fan which is a bit noisy. It also means that, in the case of a power cut, the gas fire will not work.

A replacement balanced flue fire means that there will be a glass screen in front of the coals/logs. In the case of a power cut, the fire WILL work!

I had considered a balanced flue cast iron stove, but feel this will be too bulky and not in keeping with the style of the room.

Obviously the incidence of power cuts is not that high! I am interested in other people's preferences/experiences of the pros and cons to help me make my mind up.

Thank you!

ormus

have you got more info on the present fire?
i do know that the fan/power flue ones are very noisy. my brother has one.

sandieb

Present fire is a balanced flue mounted on an exterior wall. It was installed approximately 20 years ago and is, as far as I can remember, made by Valor.

uncle_buck_3

I think I know the Valour fire you have…. my house had one when we moved in & before replacing it I also weighed up the pros & cons of the available fire options.

I contemplated a fan flue fire but dismissed the idea on the basis of “More things to go wrong with it”…also they do make a slight fan noise when they are on.

I also looked at flue less gas fires….with this type of fire there is no flue but you do have to have an air vent fitted to let a certain flow of fresh air into the room…..I dismissed this option as there is just something about the technology I don’t trust….I felt I would always be asking myself if the fire was working properly & not poisoning me when it was on!

So after all of that I stuck with a balance flue fire…..I ended up with a Robinson Willey Riviera….its a glass fronted fire (all balance flue fires are glass fronted) but the glass doesn’t bother me & it’s a very nice fire.
http://www.robinson-willey.com/RWproduct.htm


If you decide to stick with a balanced flue fire make sure you look at them all before you make your mind up as there are quite a few modern styles on the market now.

HTH.

sandieb

Thanks uncle_buck - yes your post is really helpful. I like the LOOK of the open gas fire but the sound the fan makes does concern me, although a friend has one and it's noticeable but not annoying. However when I go to visit her we chat non-stop so haven't been able to experience it when there is no conversation!

I hadn't considered the "more things to go wrong with it" perspective. The other pros to the balanced flue option are that it is cheaper and also not such a large chunk to be cut out of the external wall - might even be able to utilise the current "hole". I guess also, with the glass front it can be kept looking a bit cleaner? At least the dust won't settle on the "coals"!

plumb1_2

sandieb wrote:

Present fire is a balanced flue mounted on an exterior wall. It was installed approximately 20 years ago and is, as far as I can remember, made by Valor.

Is it a Homeflame?

uncle_buck_3

Believe it or not one of the things that the misses & I considered regarding a fan flue fire was the fact that the fire is open to the outside…so it’s an easy path for Spiders into your house!...you see she (cough cough) is scared of them! :eek:

sandieb wrote:

....also not such a large chunk to be cut out of the external wall - might even be able to utilise the current "hole".

If you go for an inset fire (IE. doesn’t stick out from the wall… mine is this type) the inner leaf of the cavity wall will have to be removed to house the fire!....Any inset fire (Fan Flue, Balanced Flue, or Flue less) will require this. You can get a spacer kit for some fires to save you from having to do this if your not fussed about it sticking off from the wall a bit.

For more details of the cavity wall work required have a look on the Robison Willey link I posted above….top right of the page you will see a “downloads” tab….in there download the “Installation Instructions for the Riviera RS & Belvedere RS”....the diagram of the cavity detail is on page 6 fig 2.

@ plumb 1
Mine was a Valor Flamenco unigas.

sandieb

Thanks for that.

I'm not in the least afraid of spiders although I was a bit more respectful of them when I was on holiday in Oz!

Thanks for pointing out that the inner leaf of the cavity will be cut out and for the installation information.

I've absolutely no idea of the name of my present heater - it WAS installed about 20 years ago!

Antispam

reported post 9 for username and for advertising very unprofessionally of a company to come on and promote there company directly or indirectly and bumping up old posts

rustyboy21

Antispam wrote: »

reported post 9 for username and for advertising very unprofessionally of a company to come on and promote there company directly or indirectly and bumping up old posts

I know a little late in day, but just to confirm,

Valorfire is nothing to do with Valor Fires, Valor as a company do not get involved in sites like this, any correspondence would be through their customer relations dept, not this site.

This is an independent internet trader, who is passing themselves off as the manufacturer, who should dissist from carrying on using the name

Valor fires would not direct users to buy off the internet, as a gas appliance is a specialist purchase, which should be installed correctly, by a qualified person. I for one feel that an internet trader is not a qualified person to advise or promote a particular product.

Who is more qualified in your eyes, a retailer trading as a showroom, with their own installers, testing equipment and specialist know how, or a guy who sits in their spare bedroom, taking your money and only replying to you by email?