Gas wood burner - good or shit?

[lightlypoached]

I'd love a wood burner to fill our empty fireplace but we live in London so a) it's too polluting (even the Defra approves ones kick out nasty particulates) and b) they will be banned in the next year or so.

So I've been looking at gas lookey-likely wood burners.

Has anyone got one? Are the any good or do they look naff? Do they actually kick out heat ?

Any insights or opinions welcome.

Anyone?

Hate mine. Looks lovely but smells of gas ( had it inspected, been told that’s just the way it is)

Following with interest as we have a gas fire so could change fairly easily

As a real wood burner owner, I do think the fake ones look naff BUT the real wb stoves do kick out some shite and dusting is a daily chore in cool weather

No idea on the heating sorry, never had a gas one. Don't worry about other people’s opinions though because what matters is what YOU like.

Have a yeoman one, love it. Paid extra to have a remote control so once I light the pilot light in the autumn I don't have to get down to turn it on.
It would have cost a lot more to have a real wood burner so we opted for the gas one instead. Like that I can turn it off when we go out safely, looks real, provides loads of heat and a lot easier to maintain. Yeoman make the same style in wood and gas and even put the handle on the gas one so it looks as real as the wood one.

Had one (installed by previous owners). Never used it. Looked fake.

Ours is lovely , we wanted the ‘look’ but I can’t have a real one because of my chest problems . We went for a broseley remote control one and their customer service was first class .

Like the pp Broseley make the exact same style in gas and wood so they don’t look any different .

I can't speak for how they look, but DH is a wood burning stove fitter - and he says the gas lookalikes are excellent, very efficient and kick out loads of heat.

Thanks everyone. It's the fake look that bothers me most. Maybe o need to see one in the flesh before deciding ?

I love mine, it looks like a "proper" woodburner unless you look closely enough to spot the gas valve. Warms the room up, makes it feel cosy, no cleaning - shame it doesn't have the wood burning smell, but that's all...

I was about to post the same question!

@EsterOdesavitch Is there a make your DH recommends?

We had a beautiful one in our old cottage (installed by previous owner) it looked exactly like the real thing and we never needed the heating on as it kicked out so much heat. Everyone thought it was real until we told them. I loved that it took seconds to put on and was so efficient. I think it was v expensive though (they had fab taste!).

We went for a gas fire in the end but were looking at Clock gas 'woodburners' and they are gorgeous. All the gas ones we saw were more expensive than the actual woodburners so interesting to see someone above say the opposite.

My folks have this one

https://www.stovesareus.co.uk/yeoman-cl5-contemporary-gas-stove.html

Looks very elegant and minimalist and not naff at all.
Kicks out a lot of heat in their big lounge.
I want the same model but not to fussed on the price, I assumed a gas fire stove would be £300 for some reason

Like a couple of other posters I have a broseley gas stove. Its the exact same shell as their real woodburners so definitely doesn't look fake. Also highly recommend a remote control!

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.ebay.co.uk/b/Provence-Gas-Heater/20613/bn_7023487160&ved=2ahUKEwilzqaMrZ7sAhWKQUEAHTtuClsQqa4BMAB6BAgREAU&usg=AOvVaw3DMtIFfKslQyJfkc_6mT6h" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.ebay.co.uk/b/Provence-Gas-Heater/20613/bn_7023487160&ved=2ahUKEwilzqaMrZ7sAhWKQUEAHTtuClsQqa4BMAB6BAgREAU&usg=AOvVaw3DMtIFfKslQyJfkc_6mT6h

We got a calor gas one several years ago. It looks lovely, people have thought it's a real one. It chucks out a huge amount of heat, we usually have it on the half flame, and it burbles along quite happily. It does smell a bit of calor gas but not desperately so. I love ours, and the benefit is that you pay for the heat before you use it. The calor gas cylinder lasts quite a while. Hope that helps.

Mil had one . I wasn't mAd on the fake aspect but it worked really well. No mess and very quick to heat . DM has one which has been a nuisance for years. She is always getting gas men out to check it. It is neat and warms the room on cold evenings . I would make sure you are confident in your fitter and the appliance.,

Thanks everyone for taking the tine to respond.

I'll measure up and take a look !

Log burners won’t be banned but there will be restrictions on what be burned in them, lots of houses are off grid so log burners are required. Unless they ban them where gas is possible?

@FAQs they will be banned in london - plans already in place. Even the Defra approved ones burning low smoke stuff kick out more pollution than the cars on the road (grim) so it's a mayoral pledge to do get rid. It could be a very expensive folly if I go wood now (although I do love the real thing !)

I don't think there are many off grid in london so it seems fair to me.

We are also in London and I think a ban is likely (and that burning wood will increasingly be frowned upon as polluting).

Have you considered a pellet burner? Some of those look good if the burning appearance is important to you.

What appealed to us was the extremely high efficiency which gives extremely low flue pollution. Also the cleanliness versus logs, coal, etc.

Nordica pellet burners: www.lanordica-extraflame.com/en/products

We have one that is very modern and looks pretty realistic but it was very expensive. Some of the cheaper ones look really fake.