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!

puffylovett- I think wood burners can look amazing in the right property. I had one in a beautiful stone built cottage ( built in 1657). It looked and felt so right.

However I had several stunning fireplaces in an elegant Georgian property I owned in the heart of the city.

A wood burning stove in that home would have looked ridiculous, ugly and a bit toytown.
The OPs fireplace is beautiful, replacing it with a woodburning stove would be sacrilege.

Can you not buy a stove that fits into the gap?

We have an original 30s fireplace but it's not that beautiful tbh. I am thinking of a wood burner but not sure. We use the open fire in the winter as a back up to the central heating. It is really nice but a bit messy. I use wood.

I was thinking of buying an electric stove type thing and sticking it on the hearth as emergency back up. They are probably a bit naff but would be good to warm the room up instantly.

would a chimney heat exchanger work there for you if the fireplace can not be altered? might help recapture some of the lost heat thats going up and away

Goblinhat - I totally agree.. Our woodburner looks fab in our back room, but I ripped out a horrid modern gas fire in our front room and replaced it with a Victorian eBay bargain open fireplace. It's probably not quite right really for this house, but at least it's a period fireplace in a period house! They give the place heart in my opinion :)

You can get some lovely, realistic looking gas fires nowadays.
Having had open coal/log fireplaces, a woodburner that I really loved, and a coal effect gas fire, I'd choose the gas fire over the others for efficiency, convenience and the ability to produce a cosy, homely environment.

I was watching this thread to see what people came back saying their costs were, because we're planning on taking out our gas fire and putting in an open fireplace.

DH will not even think about getting a stove, whatever anyone says. But we have chosen a fireplace which could take one.

We've been given a quote, subject to a survey this week of:
Almost £800 for the new surround/ hearth (ours was only suitable for gas);
£70 for the solid fuel set (the fire basket etc);
Almost £500 for installation, including capping off the gas;
About £80 for a clay fireback and then a wall vent.

The total is just under £1500

We live in the south west (just).

cant really help as we were all set up bar capping the gas as our friend done it for free

it sounds expensive but i admit to not having a clue

dont forget a carbon monoxide detector

Barbeasty - can you stretch to a stove, you will save in the long run on the amount of fuel you get through and almost no risk of embers on your carpet , aside from when the doors open to feed it

Strongly agree with Bowsaw. Coal fires look and sound lovely and give the illusion of heat but 80% of the heat goes up the chimney. With stoves 80% of the heat stays in the room.

Replacing an open fire with a stove was life-changing in this house.

We could afford it, DH just really, really (etc) doesn't want one.

To be fair we don't need it to heat the room/house. It will mostly be lit to look nice at Christmas, maybe the odd weekend afternoon.

And if we manage to replace the conservatory with an extension, I'll have a burner in there and he can sit in the drafty room... then when he sees the error of his ways we can get a burner installed, knowing that it will fit.