woodburner or open fire in dining room

[BarrelOfOtters]

We've got a woodburner which I love in the sitting room.

We are opening up a fireplace in the dining room and putting back the original edwardian fire surround.

We've had a quote for reinstating it as a fireplace but I was just wondering whether another wood burner would be better.

The room isn't used much to be honest as a dining room, once a week in winter, Christmas, some other evenings.

I use it for wfh - and will probably continue to do that. In which case a woodburner would be better I think in the winter. But the open fire installation is cheaper....v undecided.

If it's something you'd use rather than making an aesthetic choice then definitely go for wood burner. Open fires are terrible for indoor air pollution, so on health grounds alone go for wood burner. I'd personally prefer the aesthetic of a wood burner anyway.

I was always an open fire fan, but we changed to a wood burnet last year and it’s been fab. We get more heat from the wood burner, it’s easier to light and looks fab. But in a room you hardly ever use....? Hard to decide. Wood burners are more popular generally, so if you are ever thinking of selling anytime then I’d go that way

In a room you rarely use would you consider using an electric woodburner? Some of them are very realistic and even a top of the range one will cost you a lot less than the real thing. I am a lazy so and so, caring for and cleaning one woodburner would be enough for me.

Wood burner 100%. My parents have both, an open fire in the living room and a wood burner in a big kitchen and the wood burner is much more efficient. You have to be sat on top of the fire in the living room to be able to feel it, its a complete waste of money and energy. Plus, with a wood burner, the metal container (not sure of the correct term?) heats up and lets out heat itself, rather than relying on just fire.

Go for an open fire - they can't be beat on a still winters evening. You're opening up an Edwardian fire surround so presumably it's a large, characterful, draughty old house - do you really care that much about efficiency?

Get a woodburner with a big window. They are so much easier to light and maintain, and cleaner.

I loved mine!

unless you really hate the planet (many on here do) then woodburner. 80% efficient as opposed to 20%.

We've moved from a house with a wood burner back to an open fire. There's no comparison the stoves pack out so much heat and are less messy too. I read somewhere that's why stoves are so popular in Europe but the British are sentimentally attached to "real flames" despite inefficiency.

Can you give us an image of the fire place? Just an idea.

There’s so much choice it might help you decide

It depends on the look of your fireplace but I wouldn’t have thought that a wood burner would go with an Edwardian fire surround. An open fire would have been correct for the era.

I’m just not sure it’s worth it when it might only be lit once a week for a couple of hours...

I have been pondering about this for ages... I love the fireplace in my dinning room but I don’t really think is practical to put a fire there as...

• we don’t spend enough time sitting at the table to make it worth it putting the fire on, but you may do if you often have parties, however..
• the table, chairs will obstruct the view of the fire. The room may get too hot specially if full of people and, unless the room us massive, there is an issue about safety.

@TheMotherofAllDilemmas I had wondered about whether it would get too hot but hadn't really thought about the safety... maybe that's why they took it out in our house?

I think it'll make the room look better putting a fireplace back in...it'll give it a focus.

Looking at the mantelpiece I'm starting to wonder where they got it from, it probably isn't the original.

I don't think the Edwardians did us any favours with their love of inefficient open fires however authentic. If you are WFH in the room then a small stove woud be best for all day heat, it is possible to put them in a cast iron surround. May look a bit odd to start with but if you are putting a surround in you can choose it to suit.