Gas fire as an alternative to a wood burner?

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I would like a wood burner (or multi fuel) stove but my husband is concerned about particulates and air quality. I saw an advert today for a gas fire that says it has realistic flames and logs and (in the magazine at least) looks a lot like a wood burner.

But are they irredeemably naff? And have they improved since the days of my grandparents gas fire which definitely did not look like real flame?

Anyone got one?

Thank you 🔥

I got a high spec woodburner and only burn kiln dried wood....to try and make it not so bad...

Though some of the gas ones I’ve seen in pubs and places do look v good and quite real.

Gas is real flame!

I saw one in a fire shop and honestly

It was beautiful

Its a gas woodburner and it was expensive but i did need a closer look to make sure it wasnt a proper woodburner

It was a yeoman one..i think, I’ll see if i can find it

Fairly positive it was this one...shit photo though

We inherited a gas fireplace complete with fake logs from the previous occupant of our flat. I think it’s quite an expensive one as it’s actually quite convincing. Our initial plan was to replace with wood but we couldn’t as the flue is too small and is shared by the upstairs neighbour but I’ve learned to love it. So easy, we have it on a lot as it’s no hassle as it doesn’t need logs or cleaning after every use.

Not at all naff! We have the Yeoman CL5 mentioned by Rufus. It's fooled most visitors to the house (the basket of logs next to the fire adds to the illusion... )
So easy to use and keep clean. We ummed and ahd for ages before deciding to go down the gas route and so glad we did.

We have the yeoman too. Love it as couldn't justify the extra expense for a chimney for the woodburner.
Paid extra for a remote control option which makes life so easy. Once the pilot light is lit for the winter I can turn it on and off from the sofa!
Definitely looks like a real woodburner without the hassle!

We have a Broseley Hereford 5 gas stove . It’s an exact replica of their woodburner so looks very authentic . It’s also remote control so very easy to work .

the stove types are pretty well indistinguishable. You can get open grates that look good, but are very wasteful as most of the heat goes up the chimney; and others like a fake grate with a glass pane over it, which are more economical but very unconvincing.

If you want a wood stove, look instead at a modern multifuel, you should be able to find one that is clean-burning enough to meet the particulates emissions. I have a relation with a huge one that runs the CH (in the country with good supplies of wood, also uses coal).

A friend of mine has a gas Morso stove that is distinguishable from a real wood burning stove. It gives off a lot of heat too.

Thank you all!

We live near someone with a wood burner, please don't inflict that on your poor neighbours.

I've got a multi fuel stove and would much prefer a gas version. It's such a faff to put on we rarely bother using it.

I love the idea of woodburners, but the ash is a PITA to clean out and however careful you are it does make a lot of ashy dust. Dd has one and admittedly it's lovely when lit, but having seen and cleaned out the mess, I don't think I'd want one now.

There are fantastic, realistic looking gas fires now - that's what I'd go for.

I have a stovax (gazco) stockton 5 gas fire log effect from a few feet away looks just like you are burning logs. This replaced a stockton 4 dedicated log burner, you can not tell the difference. Would recommend the gas.

Not getting the issue with cleaning it and the mess. There is a drawer at the bottom of the wood burner, you pull it out, tip it into a black bag, and job done. Takes seconds and no mess, you don't clean inside it. Obviously.

We have a real one, well we have two, both very efficient, we are self suffient in logs, and only burn wood with less than 15 percent moisture, so they cost us nothing to use.

I put a couple of fire lighters in, light them, throw some kindling on, wait about three mins, throw some logs on, And that's it. Keep it periodically topped up. No dust no mess.🤷‍♀️

You will be disappointed, there’s no comparison. It provides a focal point and heat but no warmth in ambient sense.

What is "warmth in the ambient sense?"

We have just got a bio-ethanol 'woodburner'.

Real flame, doesn't require any connections and is entirely stand alone.

Pros:

• Very, very easy (no ash)
• Doesn't create dust in the room
• Only gives off as much CO2 as a candle
• No particulates
• Uses environmentally friendly fuel (bio-ethanol is made from food waste)
• Totally stand-alone with no connections needed which means you can move it to other rooms if you want to (in summer we'll put ours out of the way in the study)
• You can use it as a patio heater in the summer
• No flue needed so much cheaper than a woodburner. We didn't have an existing chimney so all in all a woodburner plus flue, mock chimney/hearth would have been £6k+. This has just cost £600 for the burner and that's it
• You don't need anything 'special' for it such as heatproofing on walls, etc

Cons:

• While it gives off heat, the heat rises out of vents on the top of it so it warms the whole room by a few degrees but there is no heat radiating off it that you can feel like a fire IYSWIM

• Fuel is more expensive I suspect, I don't know how much gas and logs are but fuel is about £33 for 12L which would do 24-36 nights

We don't have ours on every night so I suspect we'll spend about £90-100 per winter

• There is a very slight odour of alcohol. I do mean very slight: you don't notice while sitting there but if I go into another room and back into the lounge again I'll notice it for a few seconds

I assume Eldever means feeling the warmth of the fire as you sit next to it.

IMO gas fires do have this don't they? In fact I'm sure they do...

It's bio-ethanol fires like mine that vent upwards so raise the temperature of a room without you feeling the heat on your skin (like a radiator for example).

I'd prefer not to guess what she means.

More non renewable fossil fuels..no!

Wood burners work best with a bed of ash, we don't clean ours out more than once a week (at most, and they are used a lot) so I wouldn't consider that as an issue. In a previous house we had a multi fuel burner and a gas one. The gas one looked realistic but didn't give off anything like the same amount of heat. The real one warmed the bones of the house. If you want something that's faff free go for the gas one, but if you want the true warmth, go for real.

We've just had a gas Gazco Sheraton 5 installed and it looks amazing! No mess, but is the same design as a wood burner and does heat up our fairly large living room

No particulates

Reduced particulates, although unlike a solid fuel or gas stove which have flues venting to the outside, all the particulates end up in the room.