Bio ethanol fires

[ChoudeBruxelles]

Anyone got one? We moved recently to a brand new house. I miss a real fire but can't afford to put in a wood burner. I don't want an electric fire. Are bio ethanol fire an good instead?

[CarpeVinum]

My neighbour had one, she said the cost of the fuel was a bit scary.

I am abput to look into one for a hard to heat bit of the house myself, but am worried it will be costly to run, even if that is offset against the lack of installation costs.

So will be lurking. Listening. And wieghting up my options.

[PigletJohn]

You mean a flueless fire, where the steam and combustion fumes are released into the room, so you breathe them and they add to the dampness of your home?

Bargepole.

[CarpeVinum]

Ohhh.

[annalouiseh]

we are getting one
they give off as much emissions as a few candles, so not really a problem although they do recommend a ventilated room, what most rooms are.
Have a look at the F&Q's on the link below
will give most you need to know
www.imaginfires.co.uk/category/wall-mounted-fireplaces/henley-bioethanol-fireplace.php

[biryani]

How effective are they at heating, though?

Very pretty, admittedly.

[PigletJohn]

the heat and the emissions are both equivalent to a small meths camping stove (which you would not use inside a closed tent).

Heat is trivial. They are an ornament.

[CarpeVinum]

[HorsesDogsNails]

We have one and having researched the emissions (co2 and water vapour which pose no problem in a adequately ventilated room) decided to use ours to heat our conservatory. We were realistic about its heating capability but we are very impressed with it! Obviously it cannot compete with a log-burner but having it on for a couple of hours stops our central heating from coming on......

Another advantage with ours is that it's portable so can be used to heat whichever room we want. We buy our fuel from //www.prestigiousfires.co.uk and pay around £2.20 per litre, half a litre burns for about 2.5 hours. The larger quantity you buy the lower the cost per litre.

Overall we're really happy with ours. Hth's

[PigletJohn]

I could not find the kW output of a litre of ethanol, though it seems to be about two-thirds the value of a litre of kerosene. Does anyone know? I thought the fire vendors would specify output of their products.

[HorsesDogsNails]

The faq's on prestigious fires says:

What heat output can you expect from bioethanol fires?



Bioethanol fires give out enough heat to compete with electric fires. The burners featured on our site will give you roughly 1.8kw - 2.5kw of heat per hour. As there is no chimney for the heat to escape through, all heat comes into the room; making bioethanol fires 100% heat efficient.

Does that help?

[PigletJohn]

Ah, here we are

It appears that 1 MJ = 0.27777777777778 kWh

and one kg of ethanol (which is presumably less than a litre but I don't know how much) provides 28.865 MJ/kg

So to calculate kWh of one kg of ethanol, it would be (0.27777777777778 x 28.865) = 8 kWh

Is my maths right?

If half a litre burns for 2.5 hours, that mean 1 litre burns for 5 hours. If we estimate that 1 litre is about 1kg, that would mean an output of 8kWh/5h = 1.6kWh

Could someone check my maths please?

[CarpeVinum]

I can't check the maths, but 1.6kw won't do me.

Oh well. Chinmey man is coming to do tubeynthings in spring.

[PigletJohn]

It's actually quite a lot more output than I was expecting.

The makers claim of 100% efficiency is a bit shaky because it includes the condensation benefits of the steam emitted losing its heat when it hits a cold surface and condenses into water. As this will most likely be the windows, or possibly the wall, I don't see condensation as much of a benefit. If the water vapour escapes by ventilation that heat is lost.

If the fuels costs £2.20 per litre and contains about 8kWh, that would be a running cost of about 28p per kWh (twice what I pay for electricity, 7 times what I pay for gas)

[CarpeVinum]

Ta Piglet yuo've sorted put my dilemma.

[CuddyMum]

We had one as a temporary measure in our open fire with the fake logs. It looked pretty and fooled a number of people. However, when it got really cold it didn't warm the room up at all. We have since had the chimney swept and are now burning logs and coal. I think the bioethanol fires are great to use as a feature but not as a heat source.

[MsUumellmahaye]

they are defo just a feature,they give off a good heat but you just couldn't afford to keep it burning for long, however as a novelty i love mine!!!!

[PigletJohn]

In an open fireplace I imagine most of the heat would go up the chimney.

[PigletJohn]

In an open fireplace I imagine most of the heat would go up the chimney.

[MonkeysTypewriter]

We have one on order, same as you brand new house no flu. We don't need it really for heat we just need a fire to have a focus for the room and occassionally light to make it cosyg. I don't want to re-direct a gas pipe or get a flu put in for occassional use.

[redshoespurplehat]

can't you just use a calor gas bottle fire B&Q do some that look like an old wood burner ?

[justaweeone]

We have this from Calor,gas bottle last ages and really heats the room
Provence portable heater (matt black)£269.99

[redshoespurplehat]

that's the one I was thinking of . looks lovely .

[seb1]

If it is just for effect what about

[clove888]

Bio Ethanol is a completely Eco-Friendly fuel. It is produced from food waste, creating no extra environmental harm, therefore it is one of the cleanest and most efficient sources of extra heat in your home.

Ethanol fireplace is one of the safest and cleanest fireplace solutions for modern eco-homes. When burning there are no toxic fumes or soot produced, therefore YOU DO NOT NEED A FLUE. A window in a room, which you can open when it gets too hot is perfectly sufficient.

The heat output depends strictly on the type and size of the container and following this - the type and size of flames, but on average a bigger Bio Fireplace produces approx. 2-3kW of heat per hour and a small tabletop burner approx 0.5-1kW of heat. You will feel it in any average size room, although any biofire cannot replace conventional heating.

[Haint]

There was a dreadful house fire locally recently where lives were lost, attributed to one of these. I don’t know that it’s a common thing, but I’d do a whole lot of research first