Electric 'stove lookalike' heaters - quality difference??

RainbowsInTheSpray

Anyone help with this? I intend to get one of these to replace an ageing gas fire. I find that the makes and models being offered by non-high street specialist outlets - e.g. ranges such as Gazco, ACR, Broseley - are all at sky high prices (£600 and way upwards) as compared with the modest sums being asked in places like B&Q where something can be had often for £100 or even less!

Can this gap all be explained by dealer/middleman 'mark ups' or is there a genuine quality difference in e.g. general manufacture, flame realism, operating noise etc? One thing I have noticed is that the weight of the appliances such as Gazco can often be double that of the typical B&Q offering. This, to me, must surely indicate something but I'm not sure what exactly!

Bendy_House

Blimey, that's expensive! But a quick Google will show that there is a significant difference between them.

The high-end models will usually be cast iron for a start, just like 'real' stoves (I think some even use the same casing as real stoves). And then there's the realism... Wow, some are truly impressive from what I can see - 3D LED projectors, vapour production (like real smoke and flames), and other such malarkey.

You'd need to see them in the flesh to decide if it's really worth it; some cheaper effects are 'not bad'.

stuart45

I paid just over £400 for this one about 18 years ago. The flame effect isn't as good as the latest ones. Really it's just an expensive fan heater.

Bendy_House

An attractive expensive fan heater...

coffeehound

Can you not get stoves like this that run on gas?

daveyjp

coffeehound said:

Can you not get stoves like this that run on gas?

Yes, but whether they can be fitted depends on the chimney/flue of the property.

tacpot12

coffeehound said:

Can you not get stoves like this that run on gas?

The point of an electric stove is that they don't pollute like a solid fuel or gas stove does. 

I had the very cheapest plastic one from B&Q and was very pleased with it. It produced a good amount of heat - as you would expect a fan heater to do - and if you glanced at it you would not know that it hadn't cost £400. If you are going to stare at it intently all day, then the very realistic effects might be worth the extra money, but I just wanted the cosy warm glow from the fireplace and a quick bit of warmth if I wanted to sit in the lounge while the heating came on, e.g. if I returned home at an unusual time when the heating was not set to be on.

I never noticed moved it, so never noticed that it was very lightweight. The only benefit of a cast iron body is that it will absorb some of the heat and continue to release it when the electric element is turned off. If you have no other form of heating in the room, this might be a small advantage.

stuart45

The casing on mine never seems to hold any heat, so I think looks are the only advantage.  I would have gone for a cheap one, but my wife insisted on that one as I was paying. I did get a £50 one from B&Q for the extension.
One advantage of a radiant heat over a convected one though is that the air temperature can be lower for the same amount of comfort.

maisie_cat

We had the same problem a few years ago, needing a replacement for an old gas fire, the cheap ones in B&Q/Argos look awful. We bought a Yeoman Dartmoor on Ebay the casting is the same as the solid fuel & gas versions and it looked really good.

ChasingtheWelshdream

I spent ages looking at these and the main difference I could see was the aesthetics of the casing. Some of the cheaper ones looked very plasticky whereas the top end ones were indistinguishable, being steel or cast iron.

The flame effect did vary, but none were hyper realistic. Even the ones from Aga  and Stovax I saw on a showroom we’re just ‘ok. If you are just wanting a glow, then pick the one you prefer but don’t expect it to fool anyone into thinking it’s a real flame.

An alternative possibly…

As I was going down this route purely for visual effect, and didn’t actually need heat, I just couldn’t justify spending a lot for a decent looking one. Instead I got a cheap (£10) broken stove from Marketplace, painted it, used some spare plastic pipe for a flue and got some flame effect fairy lights. 

In daylight it looks just like the real thing. The lights for ‘glow’ I am still pondering and had some great ideas from a thread on here.

RainbowsInTheSpray

Thanks for the replies. Any more greatly appreciated. Nobody's mentioned noisiness so perhaps I take it that generally fan operation isn't too much of an issue..?