Living room fire recommendations

ewal

Dadsnet alert...

We've got a coal effect gas fire that's seen better years and I've been tasked with finding a replacement. Gas is on the way out so looking for something electric. None of the fires I've seen in places like B&Q take my fancy. Part of the problem is I would like ride of the whole fireplace, but that would mean we'd have to get the wall plastered, get rid of the stone hearth and get a new carpet. Which seems excessive. So probably stuck with a design which would work with the existing hearth.

Anyone got any recommendations?

ewal

Or maybe some sort of alternative to gas - bio-fuel?

strumjoughlamps

rip it out for me especially if your thinking electric… rads and a Dyson Hot and Cold is our set up in the living room tho we haven’t used the Dyson since last summer on cold setting… we keep our heating ticking over on comfort setting so house is never cold enough to need a blast of heat. 

ewal

If it was just me, I'd rip out and use the wall space differently. But my wife likes a fire as focal point. She's agreed that we could remove the big mantle piece like wooden surround, so progress made.

munckee

You can get the built in electric fires with tv all in one units which look.  British Fires do them.  

gumbothewiddler

Have a look at the Gazco ereflex. We had a media wall done last year with one and we love it. Much safer with our asd son than the crappy gas fire we used to have. It’s efficient and looks great! 

tekbow

ewal said:

Dadsnet alert...

We've got a coal effect gas fire that's seen better years and I've been tasked with finding a replacement. Gas is on the way out so looking for something electric. None of the fires I've seen in places like B&Q take my fancy. Part of the problem is I would like ride of the whole fireplace, but that would mean we'd have to get the wall plastered, get rid of the stone hearth and get a new carpet. Which seems excessive. So probably stuck with a design which would work with the existing hearth.

Anyone got any recommendations?

You don't want an electric fire, it'll cost a fortune.

I mean, not an outright thing for heating. If you want a focal point, there are non heating display pieces these days.

I don't know if it's a possibility, but get a real wood burning stove?

ewal

Real wood burning would probably require chimney work and not really the net zero option. Although it would be nice.

ewal

And media wall option wouldn't get accepted by all stakeholders.

tekbow

ewal said:

Real wood burning would probably require chimney work and not really the net zero option. Although it would be nice.

Modern wood burning stoves are pretty clean burning, but we've also got solar panels, storage battery and a heat pump, so i don't begrudge the odd fire on a cold winter evening.

And its great when the power goes.

I'd give my right nut for gas though. The lines don't come down as far as our house.

Scotty55

Wood burning stove. We’ve got two in our house and they are amongst the best investments we’ve made. Love them.

Stratavarious

Love our multi fuel stove in the winter months.. makes a house a home.  But we live in the sticks and can dry the wood as long as it needs to be.   

boogieman

ewal said:

Real wood burning would probably require chimney work and not really the net zero option. Although it would be nice.

The chimney could probably have a liner installed, which isn’t usually difficult to do or massively expensive. As someone else has said, wood burners are pretty efficient nowadays, especially if you get a Defra approved one. Logs are getting more expensive though:  the price has probably doubled in the last 4-5 years, mostly because they have to be supplied already dried to a low moisture content nowadays, but there’s also an element of supply and demand as wood burners have got more popular. 

We had a 5kw * woodburner installed a few years ago, it makes a lovely focal point, we love the smell and it really chucks out the heat. 

*Be aware if you go over 5kw that you need to have extra permanent ventilation installed in the room. 

JonB

Good thread, I occasionally glance at our aging gas fire and think I'd quite like to cap the gas and replace with something else. I do love a fire focal point but don't really need a fire there.

ewal

I hear all the wood burner recommendations. The other thing 'I heard' was possibly some govt regulation, because of particulates etc. That may have been a Scottish govt thing from days Greens were involved. I suspect wood burners will be permitted as long as a gas fire is.

ewal

Will maybe price up a few options - that'll probably significantly influence our thinking. We started talking about a new fire - we now appear to be talking about fire, fireplace, flooring and rug!

tekbow

ewal said:

I hear all the wood burner recommendations. The other thing 'I heard' was possibly some govt regulation, because of particulates etc. That may have been a Scottish govt thing from days Greens were involved. I suspect wood burners will be permitted as long as a gas fire is.

I'm pretty sure the wood burning stove thing has been shelved.

Just checked. Yes there was going to be a ban on them installed in new builds, but that's been revoked after rural communities basically said our energy infrastructure is shit as it is, and with the increasing prevelance of extreme weather events they need to have a reliable backup.