Open fire vs multifuel stove

Energy28

Hello
We are considering having our two coal fires removed and have 2 multifuel stoves put in their place.
Any advice on costs, ease and if it's worth it. Mid terrace property, two chimneys.
Thanks

A._Badger

It's so long since I last had a stove installed that I wouldn't like to  guess at today's costs (and there are too many variables involved in any case) but even though stoves are considerably more efficient than open fires, I think my you would have to wait many, many years to realise any savings.  

You might find it worthwhile if you factor in the increased desirability of your house, were you trying to sell it, and you might have other reasons for preferring a stove (aesthetics, ease of operation, lack of dust etc) but in solely financial terms, I doubt you would ever see a benefit.

comeandgo

I have open fire, always had it so not sure on benefits of stove but the neighbours who visit who have stoves say they wish they had kept their open fires.

Cardew

Agree with the above, I have Gas CH and an open fire on which I only burn logs.

I have little doubt that stoves are more efficient but little beats the sheer pleasure of an open fire; my grandchildren sit transfixed watching the flames and carefully select 'their' log when it is their turn to put one on the fire. The first time they saw toast made using a toasting fork, they thought it was magic.

As Mr Badger states in the post above, it is unlikely you will see any financial gain in replacing the fires with a stove. So if you must, compromise and only replace one open fire.

dunstonh

Stoves generate far more heat than an open fire for the same level of wood.   You get less mess with a stove and you dont get soot marks in the house (some suffer soot drops on the ceiling or cool surfaces that may condensate with open fires but you dont get it with stoves).    However, the quality of stoves varies significantly.     Expensive doesn't mean better but at the budget end of the scale you have an awful lot of poor quality stoves that would disappoint.   We have three stoves which replaced open fires and are getting a fourth one put in soon. The estimate on that was around £2500 plus around £1800 for the Clearview 8kw stove. There are some brickwork repairs being done within that and new flue etc.  Our other stoves are Clearview 8kw and they do the job well.

The stove muffles the cracking and pops somewhat.  So, you do lose a bit of pleasant ambient noise.  Although some does get through.   Visually, an open fire is more attractive but a glass screen stove is also attractive albeit to a slightly less level.

Mickey666

comeandgo said:

I have open fire, always had it so not sure on benefits of stove but the neighbours who visit who have stoves say they wish they had kept their open fires.

I don't.  I have four multifuel stoves and am in the process of installing another.  I get the thing about open fires, which is why I often leave the door(s) of my stoves open when I'm in the room.  But when I leave the room I can simply close the door and don't have to worry about fire guards etc.  Best of both worlds.  

I agree with the previous comments about converting an open fire to a stove being unlikely to actually save any money, but I suspect these things are more about aesthetics than pure money-saving.  Having said that, multiple stoves are a good way of 'zoning' your heating and there are few occasions when I've had all the stoves running at the same time, so perhaps there is a money-saving aspect to them?  Also, the one stove I do use most days during the winter also has a back boiler and is linked into the mains gas heating system, so it reduces the amount of gas I use, which is useful.

Ectophile

Cardew said:

Agree with the above, I have Gas CH and an open fire on which I only burn logs.

I have little doubt that stoves are more efficient but little beats the sheer pleasure of an open fire; my grandchildren sit transfixed watching the flames and carefully select 'their' log when it is their turn to put one on the fire. The first time they saw toast made using a toasting fork, they thought it was magic.

As Mr Badger states in the post above, it is unlikely you will see any financial gain in replacing the fires with a stove. So if you must, compromise and only replace one open fire.

If you get a stove with a big window in the front, you can still watch the logs burning.

silverwhistle

I've only got the one stove but similar to Mickey above save on fuel as I tend to nest in the warm lounge. A friend without central heating changed from an open fire to a stove and really appreciates the difference in heat to the room, efficiency and cleanliness.

I've cooked on my stove and roasted chestnuts on it too so that is not restricted to an open fire.

Mickey666

Our boiler stove heats our sitting room and also a radiator in our bedroom above.  Unless we have guests, it's the only heating we need in the evenings and means the gas boiler is only used in the morning and into mid afternoon until we light the sitting room boiler stove.  Works pretty well.  I'm not personally too keen on roasted chestnuts but toasted crumpets are a particular favourite - as you rightly say, such things are not limited to an open fire.  It's also a lot easier to boil a kettle on a stove than on an open fire

FreeBear

An open fire has an efficiency of some 15-20% . A stove is more like 70-80% efficient. In addition, a stove is safer (no hot embers spitting across a room), and a little cleaner around the hearth.

I ripped out my open fire a few years back and put an inset stove in (Arada i500). It was never particularly warm with the open fire, but now, it can get a little too toasty in there. Whilst I doubt I'll ever recover the cost of installation from savings on fuel, the visual impact makes it worthwhile.

drsquirrel

What about just replacing one and seeing how it goes?

Stoves are much better than open fires by far.

If you know what you're looking for - older used stoves can be sought for not much money. The newer burning stoves are slightly more efficient, but can cost more than you'd ever spend vs an older one.

Buying an older stove means you will generally get to see what it will look like after a year or so - pre weathered - they never seem to look how they are when new.