Which Gas log effect stove to buy and hearth?

[helpme22]

I am looking at buying as realistic a gas log effect stove as possible. (Yes, I know log burners are wonderful but too much work at my age and would be too hot for small lounge).
I am going to have a real wood beam across the chimney breast.
It appears that Gazco are the market leaders but they insist on a flue liner which will add on to the cost. My property was built in 1937 and there was an inset gas fire in the opening before I knocked it out to the builder's opening.
The other company is Esse I was looking at, I do not have to have a flue liner with this one. The chimney breast is internal (not against outside wall). Flue liners are a recommendation, not a regulation unless buying from Gazco then fitters must abide by manufacturer's regulation. Some argue a flue liner makes the fire safer and more efficient.
My question is does anybody have in the last couple of years had a Esse or Gazco log stove effect fire fitted or any other make that you can enlighten me about. It appears the Gazco Huntingdon 30 gas stove has a glowing ember bed as well, no idea if others have this.
Can anyone offer me any advice from their own experience?
My second question is what hearth would look best, the fire will be matt black, the internal wall painted, a wooden aged medium oak fire beam above and I want to go for a rich cream carpet. A lot of hearths are black (is there a reason for this), so looking at honed granite or riven slate. Otherwise a light coloured hearth. Any advice on hearths as well would be most welcome. Thanks

We had a Firefox 8 coal effect gas stove with remote control because I am extra lazy. Its the same carcass they use for the log burners they make so looks very realistic. It has a liner fitted, no idea if its a requirement. They are made by Gallery Fireplaces. We had a porcelain tiled hearth as I didn't want black (shows the dust!) Carpet not been fitted yet, pics attached.

Sorry pics attached

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I must say it looks lovely. I wonder how good the log effect is, I’ll have to find out, some of them Garcia Huntingdon have glowing embers at base (it’s wire wool) too look like embers. How much room did you leave either side of fire and what size hearth 15” or 12” depth. Found out Esse don’t do log effect in fire I liked so open to suggestions abou Peoples experience with gas effect stove log burner they have?
Thanks again. Never thought about dust which is a good point.

We have recently had the small Gazco Stockton installed and are very pleased with it. Our flue was too narrow to have a liner put down so we ended up having to have the balanced flue option which goes out of the side of the house. It was frustrating not being able to use our existing (but very narrow and useless) flue, not to mention expensive but it was our only option.
I looked at lots of fires and in this price range, Gazco were definitely the most realistic log effect with the glowing embers which are great. Some I saw were hopeless.
If you want to spend a bit more, there are some Scandinavian ones that were amazing but I’ve forgotten the brands.

Check out Kalfire. Just got mine delivered. It's beatiful- even comes with a "sparks- effect".

Following with interest as this is something we would like to do in our living room, but I haven't go a clue how to go about it. We currently have a ugly (works, but not used for safety reasons) gas fire, which is inset into the wall, so at the moment the only opening we have is the hole the current fire is set into - how to we go from that to the examples above?

@WhenDoISleep
We were having some building work done anyway so got the builders to make the opening but the stove company could also have done it.
Basically, our old gas fire was taken out and then we had to have a space created big enough for the new stove to go in. We couldn’t go backwards as the exterior wall was not thick enough, so ended up having to build slightly forwards and into the room if you see what I mean. The builders basically made and then decorated a bigger chimney breast.

Hi Rosita
Thank you for your very helpful response. Your fire and fireplace look amazing. I was pleased to learn that the Gazco appear to have the most realistic appearance with glowing embers. What a frustrating time you had with the flue problem, but you overcame it and look at the result you got. I looked at the brochure again and thought the Stockton 5 would be perfect, then discovered they only make this fire with a coal effect in C/F fire not log effect! Why I don't know. This means I would have to go for the Stockton 2 which is 438mm instead of the Stockton 5 at 481mm. The 560mm and 601 are just too big.
I love your beam, could you advise if if is cut into wall or around and where you got it from? Also did you just plaster the inside wall and then paint and what hearth do you have and what depth did you come out for hearth (12 or 15")? Thank you and wanted to say how helpful you have been and how much I appreciate your advice. Thanks again

Hi Kattyy
I just looked at their website and wow they have lovely fires. If I had my time again, I would have had one of their hole in the wall fires in the open plan back section of my house. I've no idea how much they cost but do look very nice and a modern appearance. They don't appear to sell stove effect log burners as such more inset, though there is one that would work with a beam all the way round. Must say the appearance looks fabulous and if you have the time would love to see a picture of your one once fitted. Thank you

Hi WhenDoISleep
Well you managed to get the builders to knock out to the builder's opening. My carpenter knocked mine out for me as the stove company were charging for doing so and that was without taking away the bricks and rubble. Discovered that there was a natural arch which will be acting as a lintel, so at least don't need a lintel fitted now.
Clever what your builders did extended the chimney breast depth and width. This way you can make the chimney breast's position and appearance as you want it so long as you can position the flue liner through the original flue as can have an offset flue liner I believe. Are you getting a log burner or gas stove effect log burner now? Interesting as someone with the same problem as you could read your post and do the same. Thanks

@helpme22
You may want to double check that about the coal / logs with Gazco as I seem to remember being told that is all being changed. Perhaps you have an old brochure.
The beam actually rests on top of the bit that was built out on the chimney breast. I'll take another photo so you can see better. The builders plastered the whole thing and then painted it. The hearth is a kind of marble effect quartz and it comes out about 10".

@kattyy - do you mind if I ask how much the Kalfire was? We have another room we are planning to do and it looks amazing!

It looked amazing in the showroom. And I would like to post pics, however mine is currently at a building site. It doesn't come cheap but I figured it was an investment for hopefully a decade (hope so anyway!). And mine is pretty wide and due to all sorts of restrictions a complicated flue system. Fireplace itself was under 4.5k. :( so I guess expensive.
Had a look at other ones - Trimfire and Bellfire which were less expensive than that.
Best advise is, go find a showroom that has them on display. I travelled a 4-5 hours to see them all but at least I know (hope, as not yet working) I'm satisfied.

Rosita, Oh yes, I can see now the bottom section has been built out from beam down ... how clever. Where did you go for beam? I looked at beams in Focus Fireplace brochure which is full of beams and liked the aged oak one, but would source one if cheaper. I called Gazco today and was told that the smaller Stockton 2 had the burner and logs redesigned last year due to demand for log effect fires. The Stockton 5 does have logs but only for balanced flue or flueless stoves at present. It is highly likely that between May and June, Gazco will announce and fit their new updated design, which you have, into the Stockton 5 conventional flue stove. The size of the Stockton 5 is better for the opening I have. I may wait as this is a second lounge to the front of the house and concentrate on other things that need doing until then. I do absolutely love the Kalfire though and I feel your investment is worth while and must admit it is very, very tempting (Oh how I wish I'd put one in at back of the house).
Would love to see a photo when it is done. Which one did you go for from the brochure? I assume they are glass fronted, do you need a guard round them as I would have thought the glass would get hot? You ladies have been so helpful.

Love Mumsnet and the first time I have been on here.

Rosita one thing I also meant to ask that crossed my mind, where do they fit the gas isolation valve nowadays? The one in the old gas fire just jutted out from the floor?

Hi, will attempt to post a picture of our Gazco fire, we have a stone surround.

I bloody love it and 💯% recommend.

Found a better one ...

Rosita, so I went for Kalfire 105/59 (first number being witdh and second height in cm) Had a look at 105/79 but it looked a bit "empty" for my liking. The gas flames didn't reach quite high enough to justify the height of it. And the antireflective glass really is fab. You can't tell there is barrier between you and the fire at all. Here is the taller one from YouTube:

We went with a Broseley Hereford 5 gas stove, it’s remote control and looks lovely .

Wow, no wonder you are pleased it looks amazing. I will show my granddaughter tomorrow. Thank you for sharing. I would like a Gazco, but looks like I will have to wait till they update the Stockton 5 C/F to accommodate logs plus new burner etc, so may have to wait a few months. Not happy about it but the Stockton 5 is the perfect size. Thanks for sharing and advice.