Bioethanol fireplace?

Southend1

I don't think I want a flueless gas fire, having had a look at them. Will deifinitely read up a bit more on the bioethanol ones before buying but I think I will probably go with this option as they are cheap to buy initially and I am not overly worried about fuel cost because it is mostly for decorative purposes on dark winter evenings. Thanks everyone for all your input.

rustyboy21

sunshinetours wrote: »

Hmm there is also a lot of jumping on the bandwagon about these supposedly dangerous fires and this isn't helps when someone (supposedly) reputable klike BG decides on economic reasons not to sell or install them. BG also don't sell parts for older boilers and claim theyc can't be sourced so they can quote you for a new one, when you can go online or to a local Gas safe engineer and source tehse parts very easily - does that mean oll older boilers are unsafe then?

Flueless fires have been used widely for decades in USA , Japan and other European countries. i can't find too many statistics on deaths attributable to these, and certainly considerably less in this country than those attributed to poorly installed balanced flue, powered flue and unswept chimneys on real fires.

The only reason we ended up not getting a Burley flueless was because of condensation worries on colder days and the fact that as mentioned they are not 100% efficient due to air vents and primary heating requirement
Miisinformation about safety aspects helps no one however

I wasn't speading dangerous points re flueless fires.

If you look at what I have wriiten myself, I have given the 100% correct info taken directly from the manufacturers installer guide.

If I wanted to spread malicious gossip I could have posted this below, which shows how an incorrectly installed flueless gas fire can kill. Sheds like B&Q and internet guys sell them to all and sundry. How many are installed by correctly registered installers with the equipment required? I would hazard a guess at maybe 5 %.

BTW the installer involved in the link below whilst guilty, was also made to be a bit of a scapegoat, as at the time of installation, the appliances were not supplied with a test nipple to measure gas pressure and were factory set by the manufacturer. Strange that after the incident, the fires were altered to include the above.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_method=full&objectid=17887648&siteid=50082-name_page.html

Sussex13

Ive just been searching the Internet and I'm thinking the same as you Southend. I also have a mid terrace house, and it is really well insulated so I'm not looking for something that gives out a lot of heat. I just want a focal point other than a TV and real flames to look at occasionally on a winter evening. My parents have a gas fire and that smells from the dust that gets into the crevices, I'd be surprised if this were too off putting in comparison. Plus I prefer the modern styles and I don't want massive installation costs or hassle, and these can even be free standing (presumably that enables me to play with the layout of my room in the future) which is a bonus potentially.

sunshinetours

rustyboy21 wrote: »

I wasn't speading dangerous points re flueless fires.

If you look at what I have wriiten myself, I have given the 100% correct info taken directly from the manufacturers installer guide.

If I wanted to spread malicious gossip I could have posted this below, which shows how an incorrectly installed flueless gas fire can kill. Sheds like B&Q and internet guys sell them to all and sundry. How many are installed by correctly registered installers with the equipment required? I would hazard a guess at maybe 5 %.

BTW the installer involved in the link below whilst guilty, was also made to be a bit of a scapegoat, as at the time of installation, the appliances were not supplied with a test nipple to measure gas pressure and were factory set by the manufacturer. Strange that after the incident, the fires were altered to include the above.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_method=full&objectid=17887648&siteid=50082-name_page.html

The point is any gas appliance if installed incorrectly can produce CO and kill and this includes regular flued gas fires which can also be bought online. As can real fires. stoves etc. As can BBQ's used in tents/awnings etc

if anything the flueless fires have to i believe (certainly the reputable ones) be able to run even if catalytic convertor fails without producing a certain level of CO, so arguably are safer if they fail. there are quite literaly millions of these fires installed all over the world

I just think highlighting the correct issues with these fires is the way to go not heresay which a lot of these arguments are

Southend1

Hi Everyone

Just wanted to update this thread.

Now that the evenings are getting a bit chilly I bit the bullet and bought a Blyss Almeria bioethanol fire from B&Q at the weekend. It cost £119 (apparently reduced from £149) and they have the fuel for £5 per 2 litre bottle.

The fire looks great and I was surprised how much heat it kicks out. Last night it took my living room up from 16 degrees to 26 in an hour - and that was with the window open slightly for ventilation!

Would definitely recommend these fires to anyone as a good solution where a conventional or gas fire is not possible. The only thing I'm not sure on yet is how much it will cost to run but I'm not overly bothered as I only bought it to add ambience and give a bit of a boost to the central heating on a cold winter evening.

Hope this is useful for anyone else thinking about buying a fire.

muckybutt

My oh has just bought one to keep the room warm during the day when the stove isnt being used, I was sceptical I have to admit but I was pleasantly surprised by the heat output - roughly 3Kw had a room 4m2 warmed up in around 20mins.

As for smell - the one she got doesnt smell at all, the gel that we are using is farmlight fire gel.

sunshinetours

Don't these cost around £1 an hour to use though?

muckybutt

sunshinetours wrote: »

Don't these cost around £1 an hour to use though?

Not even that much ! 1L bottle costs £2.50 150ml reservoir pot burn time approx 1hr 20 mins

Southend1

Not sure about running costs yet, haven't used it enough. However the upfront cost to buy the fire is low and there are no installation costs so this should be factored in too. I will post back sometime in future with my experience on fuel consumption and cost.

sunshinetours

That is interesting thanks. Tried one years ago and very little heat but seems to not be case now. May have to look into