Gas sitting room fire?

moneyistooshorttomention

In my current house I have a gas sitting room fire. It's very far from a "thing of beauty" but it really churns out the heat and has been absolutely fine for many years now (no repairs or anything ..just its yearly cleanout as part of the servicing of my gas central heating/hot water heating). I think it's probably about 30 years old and I've never spent a penny on it.

My current one is a Baxi Bermuda and my gas guy told me that many modern gas fires simply don't measure up to it and never to change it if I could help it. He definitely advised not to buy any of the standard range of modern gas fires (his words were "They might look pretty, but they turn out very little heat and are more for ornament than anything").

In the house I am now buying, there is a gas central heating system and I wonder whether to replace the big electric sitting room fire with a gas one. However, I would want one that would be as efficient and reliable as the one I currently have and my gas guy seemed to think that if I spent twice the usual B & Q type price for one that I might be able to get a modern one equivalent to my Baxi Bermuda one.

Any thoughts? Can I get as good a one as I currently have (albeit a bit "prettier" hopefully) or should I give up the whole idea (as maybe decent quality ones are no longer made).

I think the standard price B & Q ones are around the £200 mark...but I am willing to spend twice that to get a decent quality one like I am used to if need be.

NB: My current fire doesn't supply a back boiler any more and any fire I put in my new house wont either. It will be just a fire.

moneyistooshorttomention

Little bit of googling later looking at models.

The first thing I've come up with is seeing fires described as "100% efficient", "90% efficient", "50% efficient".

What does that mean?

daveyjp

Your fitter is right if you go for one of the living flame type models.

If the old fire is simply a rectangular timber box with 4-5 ceramic inserts and you are buying it for heat output and not looks have a look at the Flavel Misermatic.

moneyistooshorttomention

Thank you.

Checked out the one you mentioned and I can see its a similar style to the one I currently have as you say.

Right. I've got that "living flame" type models must obviously be using a bit of the gas for "pretty effect", rather than turning out heat. So living flame ones will be costlier to run for same amount of heat by the look of it.

So it sounds as if I would want:
- a "high efficiency" model
- the higher the percentage of gas that is input that is also output the better the value for money in gas usage

The one I currently have must be a convection model then. I see, on checking Flavel's range, that they vary between saying they are convector or radiant or possibly both.

What exactly is the difference between convector or radiant?

Am I right in thinking that convector would mean the fire would more be centred on sending out heat all round the room its in and radiant would be more focused on emitting immediately in front of the fire itself?

HappyMJ

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Little bit of googling later looking at models.

The first thing I've come up with is seeing fires described as "100% efficient", "90% efficient", "50% efficient".

What does that mean?

100% efficient is a heater in which the fumes go into the room via a catalytic converter to reduce their toxicity...I wouldn't pick one of them..you need to keep the window open which will let in a cold draught.

90% efficient are the good ones. The burner is as efficient as most boilers usually room sealed and the fumes go up the flue and out of the room.

50% efficient are the ones that are just there to look pretty. The warm air is taken from the room burned with the gas and emitted up the flue. Rather pointless...but they do look nice.

daveyjp

Radiant is heat you can feel when you stand in front of the fire, convected heat is the heat which rises out of the vents in the top of the fire.

http://www.bfm-europe.com/pages/high-efficiency-gas-fires/outset-radiant-high-efficiency-gas-fires.html

The output for this fire is 5.2 kw when on full which is at the top end for a gas fires.