Would a real open fire put you off a house

[OneSugar1]

Gearing up to put house in market. It’s a 70s house with an open fire in living room which hasn’t been used for yonks. It’s not needed to heat the room - just atmosphere/cosmetic/extra heat if needed.

Wondering whether to fix it up or replace with an electric fire.

I like real fires as they are very atmospheric but wondering if they are off putting for others. Cons of fixing up the real fire is that a new surround is needed and there’s not many nice ones for real fires. Would be a bit of a pain in the neck to source and might open a Pandora’s box if the glue is no longer up to scratch?

The alternative would be to replace it with an electric fire but not sure if there are nice ones at a reasonable cost. Not wanting to shell out loads.

Have ruled out any gas options due to cost of pipe work etc.

When you say the surround has been removed... can you just replace it with a mantlepiece? They're cheap as chips from B&Q, Homebase etc.

There are lots of places that sell fire surrounds for open fire including reclamation yards. You need a builder who is used to working on properties with open fire. But basically if the fire back is ok with the fire brick panels you just fix the surround to the wall. There must be no gaps between the surround and the fire back and you must have a carbon monoxide detector. You could try asking some chimney sweeps for advice.

Can you add a photo of the current fire? Not sure what you mean by a new surround? Do you mean the heatproof bricks/stone need replaced?

Or are you just trying to make it look nice for viewings etc? If so, would it work to clean it up and put candles/lantern in it?

I love an open fire so it would be a plus point for me. I can't imagine many people actually being put off by it, even if they intended to change it to something else after purchase.

I’d go to a reclamationplace and see if you can find something nice to put in.

wood burner. or quote for wood burner to show buyers.
Electric YUCK, rather not bother. A properly certified wood burner can burn cleanly nowadays.

BTW it will cost around 3k to get the flue and the stove fitted and a hearth. You don't necessarily need a 'surround' as such

We have one but have never used it because the room has a radiator in it so I don't really see the point. I don't think you need to do anything with it and can just leave it in situ.

Bonus point for me and wouldn't care if no fireplace either.

I'd prefer an open fire but if you've removed the mantelpiece and it's just a raw hole in the wall it's not going to look terribly appealing. You could put a piece of furniture in front of it for pics but can't hide it forever.

Gas fires are expensive to run so I suspect will be less attractive right now.

Where do you live? Are you urban and therefore more likely to have rules imminent on open fires/wood fired stoves etc.

Pic would be helpful and then you might get useful suggestions.

We only buy houses where we can have a woodburner or open fire, so wouldn’t put us off, it’s requirement.
I loathe electric fires.

I'd love it. I have 2 in my current home. Can't wait until its cold enough to light the one in the sitting room! Got my log and kindling delivery last week in anticipation.

Considering there are doom-mongering forecasts of power outages, it's a good idea to have multi fuel options in a home.
Central heating won't work if the elec goes off, so an open fire is a good source for heating at least one room.

There are 65 designs of fireplaces for solid fuel fires on this one site I googled at random.
www.fireplaces4life.co.uk/fireplaces/fireplace-packages/solid-fuel-fireplaces/show/all

We're buying a house with 3 open fires and a woodburner.
It hasn't put us off, but I am planning to get a woodburner on in one of the open fires and get the other ones properly capped off.

So it hasn't put us off but I do see it as something that will cost us money.

I'd be fine with that but I would have expected it to have been recently swept.

Unless you can source free logs or coal open fires are the most expensive form of heating. A bag of either would only last a few hours.
I chose this house because it had an open fire, an electric fire would most certainly put me off.

It would be a plus point for me. I love an open fire

If it DIDN'T have one I would be put off, nothing like a real fire.

Please don't replace it with an electric fire. Get a surround from a reclaimed yard. If people don't want it they can get it capped/blocked.

A bag of logs or coal doesn’t only last a few hours!!!

When you say “surround” do you mean the mantle piece? You really want a reclamation yard rather than a show room.

Tbh I haven't lived in a house without either an open fire or a burner, sometimes both.

Echoing everyone else. It would be a massive plus point. If I found out that a real fire had been bricked up or replaced with an electric unit then I would be very put off a house.

No. I had one in my last house and I loved it. I wish I had one here for those gloomy Sunday afternoons in front of the telly!

Thank you so much for all the replies. By ‘surround’ I mean a back panel, hearth and mantle.

Does anyone happen to know which professional I should contact to assess the integrity of the fire chamber/flue/chimney that’s there now? I have been looking at the hetas and defra websites but there’s a lot to wade through.

Sorry , by fire chamber I mean the hole in the wall bit itself where the fire sits. . Looks a bit like this:
shop.vitcas.com/heat-resistant-concrete-fireback.html

I'd see it as a plus point.

It would be a plus point, although I’d replace it with a wood burner once I’d moved in (it’s what we did in this house). An electric fire would be a huge turn off.