No fireplace in lounge

[doglover]

Our (hopefully!) new lounge (20' by 20') has no fireplace but I feel it'll need a focal point. There are a couple of options:

a. On an outsjde wall, put in a woodburner with flue going up through roof (it's a bungalow)........ Is this even possible?

b. An electric fire (hearth / fire surround)

c. Electric wall-hung fire


Have we any other options? What do you think?

[Bunbaker]

Our last house had no fireplace, but as we had frequent power cuts we needed another source of heating. We had a gas fire with a balanced flue installed and were jolly glad we did (and so were the cats )

[amigababy]

our bungalow has a large lounge, no fire place, we've lived here 13 years. Our focal point is the large sliding patio door, balcony and valley outside. The only time we miss a fire is if there's a power cut and the central heating pump stops, we get cold quickly!
We have the same issue with our apartment in Spain, and there we're thinking of putting in a stove, it can be chilly in winter, the heat and atmosphere would be good, and it would be a great back up during power cuts ( happens a bit there and I hate being cold with a vengeance)

[audrey01]

Uppermid - thanks for the link and the recommendation. I will definitely give them a call.

[puffylovett]

Another vote for a stove here, ours has been in for 6 months, best thing we ever did. Friends have an amazing standalone morso stove installed on a glass hearth at the side of their living room between the sofas- offers a focal point other than the telly. Their flue goes out the wall :)

Btw we've saved a fortune on heating - dp gets pallets from work free, I only had the heating on over winter for 2 hours daily to warm upstairs :)

[Uppermid]

Bugger that didn't work try again

[Uppermid]

I'm in SE London and used Westcombes, based on lee high road www.westcombes.co.uk/ They use a guy called Lee to fit the fires, he came out and surveyed the chimney first and put the hole back in the wall - excellent service, couldn't fault them, friendly, clean and reasonable.

We have a multi fuel stove, it has a filter and something else so that we are able to use it, we're in a smoke free zone.

Hope that helps!

[AvrilPoisson]

Can you use woodburners in smokeless zones?

[unlucky83]

80s mum - that's exactly what I'm having...

[80sMum]

I think you can install woodburners with no chimney, you just have the flue on its own. It will get very hot though, so you would need to have a protective cage or something around it where it goes through the loft. Your local woodburner installer should be able to advise.

[unlucky83]

Oh and if you want it for heating ...and you don't live in a smokeless zone - get a multi fuel - means you can burn coal too if you want...

[unlucky83]

I'm having a stove put in ...two storey house no chimney -my stove about £1k mark -but whole job just over £3k...

You can have a fake internal chimney breast built if you like -but I'm not having that ...was going to have an external flue but have been persuaded that an internal one (feeding through a built in wardrobe upstairs) is the way to go and heat given off by the flue heats upstairs a bit too...rather than wasted outside
The stove has to have a heat proof back -but I've been told on my plaster wall will be fine (plasterboard is a problem but they can't be flush against wall anyway )...and I've got suspended wooden floors (floorboards) so it is going on a stone slab (in this case is has to be on legs) - you can have a fake concrete bit built up from the ground level so you can have one flat on the floor but that's expensive and I didn't think necessary)
Also depends what you want it for -above 5Kw output you should have air vents put in ...so even thought mine won't be big enough to heat all the space in that room on its own I've gone for that (spend our lives insulating and draught proofing only to put a big hole in the wall!)
My stove man is highly recommended and has said (unless you have money to burn) better to worry about the build quality of the stove, rather than looks (I liked a £3k one - it looked like a 1970s tv, the era of the house but he pointed out the internal build (bricks vs iron inside or something) was worse than the £1k I'm having). Also one door is better than 2 and wider means you can use bigger logs if you are cutting them yourself)
If it is an external wall with about a metre wide gap outside you can have an external brick chimney built (won't take up the whole metre but they need the space to scaffold etc) - but then you are talking serious money - verbally told more than £10k ...plus the cost of stove and installation...

[peeriebear]

We had our fire taken out and put the aquarium there.

[audrey01]

We bought a 1930s house and there is no fireplace in the front room, which was used by the previous owner as a dining room. There is an open fire woodburner stove in the rear reception room (adjacent to the garden) which we intend to turn into a dining room to be open plan with the kitchen. I'd be interested to know who we need contact to see if we can move this stove to the front room, as at the moment there is a chimney breast there, but it is blocked.

Uppermid - can you recommend the company you used? I'm in SW London.

[doglover]

I've just returned to this thread - thanks for so many constructive ideas. Fingers crossed that our sale/purchase continues!!

Chubfuddler - why NOT lounge?!!

[Uppermid]

We had a chimney, the fireplace hole had been blocked. We originally wanted an open fire but when the hole was knocked back through it wasn't big enough so we went for a stove instead and so glad we did, much better and cleaner.

It cost us £50 to get the hole but back and to see if it was suitable for a fire, this was then deducted from the final bill as they then fitted the stove. They also had to line the chimney so this bumped the price up more. I think the stove was about £750 but the total cost for everything including the mantel piece and granite hearth was about £3k - worth every penny!

[recall]

I have one like and i sink into our coal fireplace, and put the ceramic coals over it, and the flames sort of flicker up through.

[recall]

I have solved this problem with a Bio ethanol fire. It doesn't require any ventilation, it is free standing. It doesn't throw much heat out, although if you get ones with a glass front, they can do. You can place the metal box in any fireplace, and even put some good fake coals over it. It looks real. Its cheap too.

[Chubfuddler]

Wall of bookcases?

Please don't say lounge btw.

[Ihatemytoes]

I have exactly the same problem. Does anyone have an alternative suggestion to an electric fire? I'm thinking maybe a nice piece of furniture with a mirror, or art above it?

[sherbetpips]

We went for a wall mounted electric fire. It isn't very good though and is very noisy, as it is wall mounted the heat comes out of the top (rather than downwards like a floor mounted one) so never really warms the room.
What I should have done is put an electrical floor mounted fire in with a mantelpiece, etc would have looked much nicer and been more functional.

[Jaynebxl]

We have a lovely fireplace but if it was up to me I'd rather no fireplace. We have never once used the fire and just end up piling stuff on the mantlepiece. I like the idea of no particular focal point (especially not a huge tv!) and more freedom for how to arrange the furniture.

[MrsTaraPlumbing]

Personally I'm keen on function:
So I would only be investing in some sort of fire /stove if I actually wanted it to provide heating. Not as a focal point.
I'm with BN - chairs facing each other is good.

I think there is nothing wrong with arranging the room for its intended use - so yes set up like a cinema with all chairs facing the big black screen is OK for me.
Or set up more like a library or office.
Beautiful pieces of art can be a good alternative to a fire.

[doglover]

A giant TV is a big no-no - much to my dds disgust!!

[miffybun73]

Fake fireplace with candles is a good idea. So pleased that giant TV wasn't one of your suggestions. Just awful as a focal point hung on the wall IMO

Don't get me wrong, I love watching TV, but don't want a huge black screen right in front of me on the wall.

[doglover]

Thanks, Uppermid. Is this possible with no chimney etc? It's probably my preferred option but is it very costly?