Can anyone help me choose between a gas fire and a real coal fire?

[ReallyNotAMorningPerson]

We have an old fireplace that currently has a gas fire in it that's just been condemned as 'dangerous' (oh dear).

We either buy a new gas fire, or reinstall the fireplace as a working coal fire.

It would have to be smokeless coal in our neighbourhood, so logs are not an option. Because of the shape of the original fireplace (see pic for similar) a multi fuel burner unfortunately wouldn't look very good.

Can anyone share their experience of either options (gas or coal) and opinions about which is best?

Thanks in advance!

Oops, now picture attached.

Do you need the fire for heat, or is it more an extra? If I needed the heat I'd go for gas - more effective at heating the room and quick to turn on. If it's an occasional treat then I'd go for coal.

That's a good question Aalya - it's a large room with fairly high ceilings, so although we have good central heating, it would be nice for it to kick out a decent amount of heat too.

I had actually assumed that real coal would give off more heat than a gas fire. So that's interesting to know!

Agree with Aalya coal / open fires don't kick out a lot of heat ad it all goes up the chimney and you get a real draft as well. If you want something fictional go for a gas fire. We have multi fuel stove and I can't say enough positive things about it but that's a different option and look altogether

Apparently our chimney is currently open (if you light a match, the smoke draws up the chimney), and there is no grill over the top (the gas engineer looked at it from outside).

Does that mean that even with a gas fire, the heat would disappear up the chimney (and we should have it capped)?

(We have just moved in so were never able to use the gas fire, so don't know what it was like before.)

We had a gas fire in a similar (though wooden) fireplace - it was 'decorative' and didn't kick out much heat, to be honest.

we have another fireplace with a real fire, and once it gets going, it provides lots of heat!! However, you need decent coal or logs to get good heat, and it is messier to clean

Have now taken out the fireplace with gas fire and replaced it with a multi fuel stove - brilliant. Heats up relatively quickly and easier to tick over than the open fire. Felt a bit 'oh' as removed fireplace we had installed 12 years earlier(to replace a really manky 70's fireplace) but it is just so cosy on a cold evening

I would go for a multi fuel stove that can be used in smoke free areas

Wufti can you recommend your brand of multi fuel stove?

The problem with getting one of those is that it wouldn't fit into the original cast iron curved fire grate of our fireplace, and we are a bit loathe to remove an original feature...

I too would get a multifuel stove (Morso).

We replaced an open fire with a Morso panther and the difference in heat is amazing. Much less mess and work than an open fire too.

I'm a wood burner fan. We live in a smokeless zone like you and have a Defra approved multiburner. It's become such a part of our lives that we wouldn't live in a house if one couldn't be installed somewhere. I personally don't recommend them to everyone though.

1. They can be pricey to install.

1. Even though they are 80% more efficient than an open fire, they still eat through wood/ coal quicker than you could imagine. If you burn wood it's usually useful to find a free source from somewhere.

1. Storage, you will need somewhere to store coal and wood

1. It also help if one of you is obsessed with it as it requires a bit of effort to use.

How often will you use the fire? If it is not often then it might be better to go for the gas or open fire option. I would probably go for gas if it rarely used.

Thanks Ring that's helpful.

Fabtigger - I guess if the upkeep takes a lot of work, we would probably only use it at weekends. Would that still be worthwhile?

Could you possibly give me (a very rough) idea of costs too?

We've had 2 woodburners fitted recently. The Morso Panther cost around £1400, the Badger £850. You can get cheaper stoves but I think they're al false economy.

Fitting was £2,500 and £2,100 respectively BUT in an old house with very high ceilings (I.e. Tall chimneys so longer flues and lots of insulation material).

Not SE prices.

Much of it depends on how often you intend to use them. Ours will be in use 7 days a week for the whole of winter.

The effort is quite minimal really. Cleaning, emptying is not difficult. It's just very different from turning an on switch. You will get very quick at starting a fire though, and can easily heat up a room quicker than a radiator.

They are very worthwhile, makes a room feel cosy. We use ours all year, and when its too hot we are in the garden with our chimenia.

Cost, well where are you based? I'm in London and it usually ends up costing around £2000 I hear. We didn't put an metal liner in ours (£1000 for this), you'll need to have your chimneys checked and then regularly swept.

open fires (whatever fuel) have gone out for a reason; they are under 20% efficient. With a stove you get far more heat into the room than up the chimney.

but what fatbigger says, too!!

We have just had a multi fuel stove fitted and it cost us £2200 for the stove and the fitting. (In the SE.)

We are very pleased with it, and have been very surprised at how much heat it throws out. It is easy to light and clean out too.

Okay thanks all - that's very helpful. We are not SE or London so hopefully that will bring some of the costs down.

Seems the vote is unanimously for a multifuel stove!

I have just one more question though, which is - what do we do about the original Victorian arched fire surround?

I guess we would have to remove this as a stove just wouldn't fit inside it, but we could keep the marble mantle piece etc.

So - 1. how do I sleep re. removing the original bit (and everyone saying that's sacrilege) and 2. would a stove look okay with the marble mantle piece?

Most stoves I've seen have had a lovely bit of wood as a mantle piece, but removing the original marble doesn't seem right. I'm not sure it would like very nice though.... Any thoughts?? (Current set up looks like the one attached)

I don't know how much room you have in front of it, but you may be able to position the stove in front of your existing set-up if you see what I mean? You could probably feed the flue back from the back of the stove through the victorian surround.

I don't know how it would look though!

I'm currently arranging to have an old fashioned coal fireplace put in because it is far cheaper to heat the house using the central heating and occasionally indulge in a lovely fire for toasting marshmallows on than it is to have a stove.

However, while I was making that decision, I did encounter small inset stoves which could be installed in existing fireplaces. So that might be an option.

I'm not sure that you can keep the arch, but it might be worth asking a couple of local stove installers for advice.

Thanks Madrigal that's helpful - I'll do some research.

Jasper out of interest, how much is it costing you to have the coal fire put in?

Don't know yet. I've been calling/emailing to arrange quotes this morning so I'll let you know once had a few responses.

Our installer removed an original Georgian fire surround (carefully) and then put it back afterwards.

I was going to suggest putting a small stove in front of the existing arch too - it does seem a shame to remove it. It's a really nice fireplace (the whole thing) by the way.

Coming in late to say I have lived with both, and stayed in a house with a multiburner, and would go for gas every time.

I grew up with coal fires, and I cannot express what a fucking pain they are. With coal or wood or whatever, you have to fetch the fuel, store the fuel, clean up after the fuel. It takes effort to get going, and it takes a while to heat up. And you have to keep paying attention to the damn things, and keep them fed with fuel. Wood is easier to clean up than coal, as you don't do it very often, but it's still a pain.

And with a multiburner, I will be happy never have to clean a glass panel of smoke residue and soot ever again.

Gas is always there, and will start giving out heat the second you switch it on. You next have to bother with it when you switch it off again.