converting old (wood burning) fireplace into gas fires

tara

Wonder if anyone has convert an old fireplace into gas fires before. We have a chimney 1930s fireplace which we would like to convert into gas fires. Is it as easy as just buying the gas fires and ask a CORGI gas installer to fit it? Do I need to knock down some bricks to fit this? Does this just depends on size -i.e if I can't find the size that fits, I need to knock some wall/brick of the fireplace out?
Which would keep the living room warm - a gas stove or an open gas fires? Apologies for my awkward terminology - fireplace is a bit alien to me!
Thanks for reading up to now, more thanks to any kind souls who bother to reply.

bagathacat

You're best to get a surveyor round - most companies will offer a free of charge survey and quote for fitting a gas fire. They'll then tell you the best type of appliance for your fireplace.
Gas stoves will provide more heat, and be more efficient, than an open gas fire. With an open gas fire, most of the heat goes up the chimney and is lost. A convector box-type gas fire will kick out more heat than this, and will be more efficient, but a gas stove is the best option - they are fully enclosed with a glass door (which usually shouldn't be opened by anyone other than a CORGI chap, but the downside is that the majority of them are class 2 appliances and require a flue liner. So you have two choices - pay less, but get a little less heat and efficiency, or pay more upfront and get more heat and efficiency.

tara

:beer: Thanks! I am more enlightened now!