Gas fire replacement

thoughts_please

Hello. Having purchased my2 bedroom mid-terraced house 5 years ago, I have been making improvements to my home as and when I could afford it. I have therefore alerady redecorated upstairs (including a new bathroom) and my hall/stairs/landing.

This summer my partner and I have decided to 'sort out' the living room. At the minute, its decoration is in need of improving and we would like to replace the current fire/surround with something more modern. The current fire is an old gas fire (which does work well but is not visually very appealing, especially as we might want to sell the house in the not too distant future) surrounded by a heavy brickwork fireplace/mantle.

We have had a quote to get rid of the current fire/ remove the bricks and patch plaster where needed and fit a new fire for £280 which we are happy with (they are Gas Safe registered and we were happy with the work they did on the bathroom last year). We have to source the fire ourselves. Given that we want a more modern look and are probably looking to sell reasonably soon (perhaps in 2 years or so), we don't want to spend a large amount of money on a new fire so we were thinking of a wall-hung gas fire (the 'picture frame' style) as this would avoid the need for surrounding etc.. However, reading some reviews, it seems as though ignition can be an issue. Does anyone have any recommendations for a reasonably priced model which does not have this issue or any advice generally? We are looking to spend no more than £600 maximum on the fire.

Thanks in advance.

McKneff

If you are thinking of moving on in a couple of years, why not just hve the gas capped off and get a 'picture frame' electric one.

Neat, modern, cheap, you can actually pick these up for about £100 or less in some stores. £50 or less to cap the gas off. Coffee table to hide the pipe.

Job done.

thoughts_please

Thanks McKneff for your advice. To be honest, we would rather stick with a gas fire for a couple of reasons:

1. We rarely use our central heating and as we spend a lot of our time in the living room would like a fire which produces a fair amount of heat - I believe gas fires ar better for this?
2. I worry about the wiring etc for an electric fire being hidden etc? I trust our plumber but am less familar with any electricians. We do need to get an electrician for some other work (change light fitting and remove some 'built in' speakers that are connected to a kind of 'unit' which you can plug in to radio/stereo etc**) but am keen to use the gas fitter after getting our quote.

Thanks anyway, and the advice is appreciated. Further replies also appreciated!!
**If anyone has any idea how easy this is and what a suitable cost for an electrician would be, please comment!

McKneff

There are no worries about wiring being built into the wall.

We have warm air central heating, we used to have a gas fire but in all honesty it was never turned on in the first 5 years of living here so we had it taken out and capped. Big yellow original painting on the wall as a focal point and a coffee table underneath. The room looks twice as big and we have more wall space too.

Anyway, good luck, whatever you decide to do

cyclonebri1

There is strong advice not to get a flueless gas fire on most of the plumbing forums, the type that B&Q and the others sell No flue means the combustion fumes are vented into the room and if not installed and ventilation maintained, they can be lethal.

Take it that's what you meant by picture frame style, as these are very shallow.;)

rustyboy21

There are many types of wall hung ' picture style ' gas fires on the markey, which will utilise your existing chimney to vent out the fumes, exactly the same way your gas fire does now.

They range from this

http://www.valor.co.uk/product_details/05640B1.htm?ref=/catalogue/gas_collection/inset/index.htm

to
http://www.stovax.com/builtintothewallfires/builtinfires/built_in_gas_fires/riva_gas_fires/riva_profil_2_gas_fire.aspx

to this

http://www.faberfireplaces.co.uk/Presentation/uk-en/Default.aspx#/uk-en/fires/gas/natural-fires/spectra-frameless

All come with various price tags starting at round £400 and going up to £4k.

Without knowing which manufacturer you are looking at, it is difficult for me to give advice re ignition. Some of the more well known brands such as valor,wonderfire,gazco,faber etc , use tried and trusted ignition systems. Some otheres use a cheaper chinese version, which are prone to problems. If the fire you are looking at has a slide control to it and when you look at the mechanism and it has a sort of brake cable wire being used, keep clear ! they have a tendency to buckle and expand, making more issues over lighting.

As above poster says above, keep clear of Flueless gas fires, they are not for you. You don't want to use your CH in the same room as the fire, and this IS required for a flueless fire to operate correctly, also you will need air vents in the wall and if the room is on the small side, you may not legally be able to have one anyway. IMO Flueless fires are the devils spawn and should not be fitted into our type of houses we have in the UK.

If you tell us what type you are interested in , I will try and give you a bit of info and any drawbacks.

thoughts_please

Thank you everyone for your replies. It is interesting that you are saying to avoid the flueless type - thanks for the advice. It's given us something to think about. Rustyboy - thanks for your detailed answer. Do you have a suggestion for a reliable fire at the cheaper end of that range?

Thanks for all of your help:beer:

rustyboy21

Bit difficult really as it is mainly up to personal choice.

Some manufacturers to look at which are ok are....
valor
cystal
gazco
flavel ( avoid their slide control fires )
legend ( avoid slide control fires )

Pop into your local retailer and have a good look at what you like. At the end of the day, there is not a lot that can go wrong with a fire really, apart from the ignition, which as I have said depends on the manufacturer. Valor is the only slide control I like, as it is on a rod type system, no cables, has been out for 30+ years and is patented to them. They were the first manufacturer to use them and still the best.

Hope this helps

cyclonebri1

thoughts_please wrote: »

Thank you everyone for your replies. It is interesting that you are saying to avoid the flueless type - thanks for the advice. It's given us something to think about. Rustyboy - thanks for your detailed answer. Do you have a suggestion for a reliable fire at the cheaper end of that range?

Thanks for all of your help:beer:

This being a money saving site I was expecting you to post something like that, hence my post about Flueless gas fires, they are tempting for anyone on a budget due to the very low price, (they can be seriously cheap), but avoid at all costs, sorry for the repeat but I know there is a lot of concern about their safety within the ranks of the gas safe guys.

Chordeiles

rustyboy21 wrote: »

legend ( avoid slide control fires )

I just got a new Legend "Virage" which I'm led to believe is identical to the "Vantage" but with an extra heat exchanger. The "slide" control uses a rod in a tube, the motion being turned horizontal at the bottom by a sturdy "horn". Not a cable in sight. It looks 100% reliable to me and is a real pleasure to use.

Now on the other hand I was warned off the Legend remote control by a posting in another forum that complained of a hard-to-get and expensive battery (at the fire end) that also had a disappointingly short life. But like your advice about the slide control, that may be out-of-date information.

To my mind the worst thing about Legend is the truly dismal website and the poor brochures (actually as of recent months a total lack of brochures). The product and the service are great, but you do need to go to a Legend dealer to be able to choose one. When you do visit a dealer that sells Legend fires I think you will find he is enthusiastic about the product (even though he can also sell you Gazco or Valor etc. for much more money).

The slide control is the number one option these days so you will be able to see how it works in the showroom (the trim is only held on by magnets, just pull it off and take a look). On the other hand the remote control is a much rarer option, I wasn't able to confirm or correct the information I had about the battery at two different dealers.

rustyboy21

They have changed over control systems lately, a lot of them have, but the horizontal bar operation you have metioned is still the same. The issue with this bar system, is that if you have any dust/fluff etc ( will you will over a short period of time) build up near the plastic part of the assembly, then it creates a short and stops the ignitor working.

Whilst this is easy to fix, it is annoying to have to continually have to do this and it is this point which causes most issues with consumers, who want to fit and forget.
Remote control systhems are another matter there are a few manufacturers of RC systems which are used on RC fires. IMO Mertik Maxitrol ones have the best name , they are a little more expensive, but are a lot more reliable.