New gas fire or new electric fire?

Diana_Mackintosh

Instead of using my gas fired central heating I am thinking of installing a new fire ( wood burning stove not an option!) to heat an open plan living room with open stairs.  Which is the better option? 

Krakkkers

Gas is cheaper than electricity.

daveyjp

Gas is cheaper to run, but a lot of heat won't end up in the room.  It goes straight up the flue.

Using GCH may still work put cheapest.

macman

Single rate electricity is about 350% more expensive than gas. If you want to heat a single area with a gas fire, the best option is one that is not an open gas fire, because they are very low efficiency.

ctdctd

I have had two types of gas fire.

Open front - cheaper to buy - very low efficiency - maybe 20%.

Need a hearth in case hot bits fall out.

Best for decorative use.

Closed front - more expensive - higher efficiency - maybe 80%

However, efficiency seems to be quoted at full output.

Mine (Flavel Jazz) uses 3.2kWh of gas on low but I would guess is only putting 1.5kW of heat into the room.

On high, it uses 5.3kWh of gas and heats a 30sqM space fine.

For comparison, my boiler typically uses 6kWh to maintain temperature for the whole house.

So, given the cost of purchase and installation, I suspect you would not save any money - but they do look nice!