Bio ethanol stove

[Frenchdressing]

Anyone have one? I need a stove but can’t have a wood burner. The electric ones are ok but a bit fake, the bio ethanol ones at least have real flames wondered if they were worth it?

Watching with interest!

I used to have a fake gas fire, it used loads of gas and gave out no heat.

How do bioethanol fires do? How much does the fuel cost, per hour?

Think about 3-4 hours per lite of fuel but not sure how much the fuel costs!

You can see the cost of fuel online- I looked it all up once.
I seem to remember it's a bit pricey, but not outrageous. So you wouldn't want it running all the time as a straightforward heat source, but it would be ok for winter evenings.

I don't have one, but would consider one.

No help OP but also interested - from my reading I don’t expect them to be great from a heat point of view, but still considering one for when we reno the fireplace in our front room, for the look/cosiness of a fire but eco friendly and healthier. Also considering an outside one instead of a fire pit for same reasons.

Looks like £1 an hour?

We are planning to install a Planika one, so I have been researching this! I think the biggest thing to know with bioethanol is that they are not all created equal. The higher quality ones will burn the fumes and not the actual fuel, and they are much safer as they have things like carbon monoxide detectors for the room and will automatically shut off if levels get too high.

Although these stoves don’t require a flue, you do need some sort of room ventilation and there is a minimum room size depending on how big of a burner you want, so that is something to bear in mind. We had a very cheap one from Amazon years ago where you literally just get cans that you fill with fluid (there is a cotton-like thing inside that soaks it up), and would not recommend at all. The fire itself was actually quite nice to look at, but it was not safe and it gave us headaches within about a minute of lighting it. We have since learned that you need a burner that will not come into direct contact with fuel and will mechanically regulate exactly how much to release for burning in order to avoid that.

The quality of fuel you burn will also affect whether or not there is any smell, so you will
need to account for that.

Ok thanks. Hmmmm for the amount of time I would use it, I might just stick to an electric one. Some look OK. Good fakes!

I have one but I wouldn’t recommend them.

We wanted a focal point for our extension which has underfloor heating. Its a big open space and I was worried it would seem cold without a fire.

We hardly ever use it. At the moment it is filled with logs (we have a wood burner elsewhere) and fairy lights. I could have saved myself the money and got the same effect by artfully draping lights over a basket of twigs.

It smells
It’s noisy
Causes condensation
Not really that warm

It would be handy if we have a power cut and the heating goes off but that’s about all it has going for it.

We bought loads of fuel direct from a supplier near Nottingham. Might start using it outside as a patio heater just to get some use out of it. Mind you we have a chiminea and a fire pit so we are covered in that department.

Ethanol stoves give of a huge amount of water when they burn so you might get some condensation issues.

I'm told that because of the large amount of water vapour they produce, and hence ventilation to get rid of it, your house will be colder than if you didn't have one.

It's an ornament, not a heater.

Presumably you have no fireplace and no gas?

With the increasing evidence that burning fuels within homes (including candles) leads to the release of toxins that may have long term health effects I'd steer clear.

Not quite weaned myself off posh scented candles yet, but I'm working on it.

We have a fireplace that burns bioethanol fuel. It's amazingly hot. No water is given off that I have spotted. No fumes. You pour the fuel into a metal box that is hidden by a load of fake coals and set fire to it. The flames lick up just like gas. We don't have it on every night but I'm looking at burning away now. We buy bottles in bulk. A litre bottle burns for around 3.5hrs I think. We get them on ebay. Would recommend - lots of different styles of stove and fireplace.

Op does it have to be a stove? The one we have is a combined fireplace and hearth all in one. We couldnt have gas for complicated flue and chimney reasons. It's both warm and homely.

No water is given off that I have spotted

This is the chemical reaction when ethanol burns. It gets turned into carbon dioxide and water.

There is gas but not to the chimney breast which is blocked up anyway. There’s a little alcove and a fake stove would just fit in nicely.