Too fake or sensible? Anything good about a gas heating stove?

[Alkemi]

Sensible or just too fake? Pragmatic or as exciting as beige? I am in love with the poetry of woodburners but our living room is on the first floor. Has any one installed a modern gas fired heating stove recently. Did it look like a woodburner? I know how much more convenient a gas stove would be, and we would not need to line our chimney, but tell me about the downsides. What would you do?

Tricky for us to have real wood burner so have this
Really good and no planning permission ,etc
Ours in in the corner of room and looks great
Have had 4 friends buy one after seeing ours
Instant heat ,one now as bit chiili in the sittingroom

Hey that looks gorgeous! But I think its a portable heater isn't it? I was thinking more of the kind that fit in a fireplace and look exactly like a woodburner only the logs/flames are gas fired and fake. But thanks for posting the images

It is
Ours is in the corner of a room that hasn't really got the layout for a fireplace without looking false
However 3 friends with fireplaces have them and they look fab

We've got a flueless gas stove - looks like a woodburner. with fake coals. We got it on ebay really cheap. It looks nice and is really cosy. But I am hoping to get a real one one day.

this is where I say "Is it the sort that vents the fumes and water vapour into the room, so you breathe them and they cause damp?"

bargepole.

but I don't mind the ones that are installed by a qualified gasman and have a flue or chimney. Most of them are glass-fronted, the open ones are very inefficient of gas so mostly ornamental.

Many gas installers refuse to touch unvented heaters, although the death rate is quite low.

Oh that sounds worrying. Ours has a catalytic converter, and we had to had to have an air vent put in to out outside wall. No sign of damp but we don't have it on an awful lot.

I think I'd add a carbon monoxide detector.

I think I'd add a carbon monoxide detector.

Thanks, we've got one, but you are right, you can't be too careful.

Oh....more information please PigletJohn ! I am trying to decide whether a log effect gas heating stove, installed in a fireplace with a chimney (made by people like Dovre) would be a better idea than installing a woodburner because of having to take wood up and ashes down a flight of external steps. I have no idea what balanced flue means, or whether these kind of gas fires, that are no cheaper than woodburners to buy, are expensive to run. Any advice gratefully received!

I mean, sort of like this one ...

We have an open grate and a multi fuel burner. My in laws have a gas stove, in chimney, with flue, glass fronted. I like it. Doesn't have quite the romance of a wood burner of course but nor does it have the downsides/hassle.

carrying wood around is certainly more effort than turning on gas. If you have a supply of clean, dry wood that someone will cut and split for you it may be cheaper to run. Wood brings in spiders, beetles and other wildlife. If you decide to have a "real fire" I'd suggest a multifuel stove that can burn wood but also solid fuel (as well as kipper tails and other rubbish). Modern ones often have "smoke eaters" and burn very clean. If you are ill or in bad weather it is very handy to have a bag or two of fuel handy, and it burns hotter and longer than the same amount of wood.

Some chimneys may be unsuitable for some gas fires or other stoves, but a reputable local installer will advise.

Balanced flue means that the fire is enclosed in a sealed container, and has air inlet/fumes outlet through a pipe, typically through the wall behind, like a modern gas boiler.

To my eye gas coals look more convincing than gas logs.

Ok thank you! The fireplace currently has a smelly old gas fire. I know its safe because the property has been let to tenants and I obviously get it checked annually. But the gas engineer told me that this year it would be its last. Tenants are leaving next month and I am planning a refurb. I want to remove the existing fireplace and the chimney, i imagine, should be ok for a replacement gas fire or wood burner. Decisions about what to replace the current fire with are complex. Not sure if I will be able to sell the place after the refurb. A detached bungalow on an elevated site doesn't seem to appeal to many people. I may have to relet and keep it to live in myself somewhere down the line, so I am not wanting just to go for the cheapest option. I'm attaching an image of the fireplace as it currently so you can see the need for an upgrade all round. Funds are limited tho, and I also need to sort out the kitchen and bathroom. Hmmm..

...and this is going to sound really dumb but in the brochures I've downloaded none of the gas fired heaters pictured have any sign of a gas inlet pipe, that obviously keeps the illusion going, but my old gas fire has a pipe sticking up to the side of the hearth. Would this be sited somewhere else when/if a more woodburnery model was fitted?

the gas engineer will have an opinion on what you could replace it with, e.g. will the chimney need lining, is it big enough. It might already have a flexible metal liner, but in a bungalow it might not be too difficult to renew if necessary.

Thank you, yes, I'm going to have a conversation next week hopefully with people who can supply and fit these things, I suppose I just wanted to be a bit clearer in my own mind about what I wanted to do beforehand.