To install an open fireplace?

[Arrrghh]

Just bought a victorian terraced house and want to open up the fireplace. We always had an open fire when I was a child and I love it, it feels like a presence in the room. I live alone and I find it comforting.

I know heat-wise it is inefficient, but I actually don’t want it for the heat, it’s having the open flames that I like. I also know that there are rules coming in about what we’re allowed to burn due to air pollution, and am more than happy to only burn approved fuel.

But do you think iabu? Is this a really backward thing to do?

We did it in our very early Edwardian house. It had a nasty 1960s fireplace which we took out to find a 1930s one behind which we also took out to find the original proportions of the Edwardian one. Had a repro period fire surround fitted and had the chimney flue tested and it works beautifully. We really only use it at Christmas and it has been very useful a couple of times when the central heating has failed, but it suits the living room so much better.

No I have one and it’s lovely. Only light it at Xmas and on grim winter nights.

Do it. We absolutely love ours

We've got the original ones in situ still, only ever used it a couple of times at christmas as it just generates too much heat!

In some areas open fires are not allowed so you may need to settle for an approved wood burning stove. In any case, you will need a chimney test to see if you have leaks as a first step so why not get that done and then see what your options are.

Real flames are lovely and it is a focal point for the family to snuggle around.

The trouble I find with open fires, is that when the fire isn't lit all the warmth from the heating goes up the chimney, and there's always a draft.

A woodburner is much better in that when you're not using it the chimney is 'closed' and you don't get the draft.

Is it true that open fires are not allowed in some areas? I know some areas are smokeless zones in which case open fires are OK as long as only smokeless fuel is used.

www.gov.uk/smoke-control-area-rules

We have flap that shuts the chimney off so there is not draught and no loss of heat.

@Faranth

The trouble I find with open fires, is that when the fire isn't lit all the warmth from the heating goes up the chimney, and there's always a draft.

A woodburner is much better in that when you're not using it the chimney is 'closed' and you don't get the draft.

Buy a chimney balloon if your fire doesn't have a draught excluder/trap built in.

Cheap and easy to use.

[quote coogee]Is it true that open fires are not allowed in some areas? I know some areas are smokeless zones in which case open fires are OK as long as only smokeless fuel is used.

www.gov.uk/smoke-control-area-rules[/quote]
The law changes to the fuel you can burn make that all a bit redundant, I think.

Do it.

I opened up the fireplace in my (very ordinary) 1940s semi - the previous owner had a hideous gas fire installed which I had removed. It's a tiny fireplace, but it's so lovely in the winter.

I have occasionally re-enacted 'scenes from my childhood' by making toast/crumpets on it, and also roasting chestnuts (along with obligatory song, which ds rolls his eyes at)

It is a fair bit of faff, I have to say. Worth it though

As PPs have said, get a fireplace that includes a chimney flap, which you close when the fire is unlit, so there are no drafts and no heat loss.
I installed one in my modern (1970’s) house, after a ten hour power cut in a Scottish winter with no heating when the temp was minus 15C outside!
Since then it has been lovely to sit beside on winter evenings - and invaluable when the gas engineers had to cut off my supply (and therefore my central heating) for ten days while dealing with a leak.

Thanks, glad most of you think it’s reasonable, will look into the chimney flaps!

By the way, those who have done this, how much roughly has it cost you to donthe whole job start to finish?

Thanks!

I have an open fire place, it is lovely to have a fire in winter. However if it wasn’t already there, I wouldn’t have put it in, it limits what you can do with the room layout.

Do it. The whole “less efficient “ thing is a load of bollocks. I remember 10 or 15 years ago when all the wannabes were installing wood burning stoves and going on about “how efficient” they were, I would make a point of asking how much money they saved compared to an open fire, or how many fewer logs they used. Funnily enough not a single one could answer.

Love ours. Our old house was solid fuel heating and while I liked having a stove i still missed an open fire. When we bought this place we uncovered an original fire in one of the bedrooms and had it moved to the living room. I love lighting a fire at the weekend in the winter. The fireplace has a throat plate but that by itself isn't great for stopping the air flow so I use a chimney sheep too which does the job nicely.

I have an open fire which I love, but real fires are the most expensive form of heating so I rarely use it. This means due to the fact I have a huge room I rely on radiators to heat the space up and it is never really that warm.
I am kind of swaying towards putting a gas fire in which would mean when I get home after work I have immediate heat.

I removed a gas fire, opened up the fireplace from it's 1930s size to it's pre-Victorian proportions and installed a wood burner. Work was quite extensive, including a new hearth and a new lintel (original was removed when the fireplace had been filled in) which meant getting acro props in. I've not even added up how much it cost in the end but it must have been more than £1.5k for the building work, plus £1.8k to purchase and install the stove itself. Well worth it though.

You'd still get the effect of the flames with a woodburning stove as you're after with an open fire.

I have had both an open fire and a log burner over the years (I live in rural Norfolk). I would strongly recommend a log burner. So much easier, little mess and really chucks out heat. Also quite economical to run so worth the investment. The law no says you cannot burn wet wood, so you need to be careful where you source supplies from, but either smokeless fuel or dry wood is fine.

Our house had one working fireplace left when we moved in. Used it once, but found I didn't enjoy the smoke. We had as open fire as a child so thought I would love it, but would avoid it now.

When had to have the house re-roofed we were at the same time advised to either rebuild top of chimney or remove. We went for the remove option. We still have the chimney breast and fire surround etc and don't intend to remove that.

If you haven't spent an evening with one recently, you might want to sit next to someone else's for a night first to make sure it doesn't adversely affect you. I never thought it would me.

As pp, I’ve changed the ancient open fire to a wood burner (inset). The house is just so, so much warmer. Less spot. And uses far less wood.

I want one to just look at the flames too, so we were thinking of a gas flame effect fireplace, but given that gas will be going in the next decade, I am wondering about a bio ethanol grate, anyone got one of those?

Thanks! I actually have a study next to the living room and was thinking of having a log burner in there! The chimney breast has an ugly vent thing in it that I want to get rid of, so I don’t want to leave it as it is. I thought a logburner in both of my reception rooms might be overkill? It’s only a small terraced house! I thought if the study had the logburner, the living room could have a fireplace.
It does sound like it will be very expensive to have both done though 😬

@TheSmallAssassin gosh will gas really be going in the next decade do you think? What will everyone do about their central heating systems?

We have both an open fire and a word burner in our house. The wood burner does give off heat quicker, but it's a hungry beast and get through lots of wood. The open fire uses less coal, money wise, and it's so lovely to have lit in winter. We use it most nights in winter. We live in a very old, cold house though, so it is fairly essential.