Fireplace where you can't fit a wood burner- gas? Bioethanol?

[Bluubird]

I recently moved to a newish house, about 20 years old, and I really miss the open fireplace from my old home. For various reasons it would be tricky to fit a wood burning stove and flue. I visited a local showroom with the idea of buying a gas fireplace, as I thought this might be the next best thing in terms of a realistic flame. The sales person suggested these were on their way to being obsolete, and suggested an 'electric flame' fireplace instead. To be honest, I wasn't overly impressed with the options he showed me; the 'cosy' factor is important to me, and the options he had looked a little artificial. He also suggested a bioethanol fireplace, but these were relatively expensive in comparison, and I've read very mixed reviews.
I was wondering if any wise MNers could advise what they ended up opting for, and if they're happy with it? TIA!

Not sure that I am wise.

I have looked at the fake fire electric ones and think they look great.

I have an open gas fire at the moment. The guy probably suggested to you that they are going obsolete because they are very inefficient, about 50% I think, a lot of the heat goes up the chimney. Mine has a powerflue - power assisted fan that sucks out the burnt gases. The problem with this is if you are relying on the gas fire as a backup then it will not run without the powerflue engaged. So it relies on electric as well as gas.

The closed gas fires are a lot more efficient. And I think they do not require electric to operate (I may be wrong). But I dislike the glass front. It always seems to get covered in soot, condensation, other stuff and fogs up.

Bioethanol I don't know. I think it is expensive for the heat output. And the flame probably doesn't look like a wood or coal flame.

So no ideas really. I will probably go for an electric eventually. Electricity costs 3-4x as much as gas for thermal output. But that drops to 1.5x-2x when you consider the gas is so inefficient. I do not use the fire much anyway, and I like the idea of being to have the electric flame feature going without actually having to have to switch the heat on.

Maybe you should look again at some of the more expensive flame effect electric fires.

We built a shallow false chimney breast and installed an electric fire. Tried to make it look more realistic by getting a cast iron one so it looks solid and had a fake flue put in. It’s not perfect but it’s a small room and we realised we’d never light a real fire or we’d cook and I couldn’t see us bothering with the bio ethanol (I thought I’d end up spilling it on the carpet and setting fire to myself). Used a bit of left over kitchen worktop for the base. It’s not finished… still need to fill the edges but we’re pretty happy with it.

Pic 1

Pic 2…. I plan to paint some grey ‘ash’ on the base as it’s a bit bright 🔥and maybe tile the inside but it’s not too bad

I don't know about gas fires becoming obsolete. We couldn't justify installing a wood burner and had a similar style in gas installed and love it.
There were electric and wood burner options of the same model available too.

Yes, it does sometimes get steamy and the glass can get dirty but you can open it and clean it when necessary. It was a much cheaper option for us, is very good at heating the room quickly and as an extra we upgraded to the remote control version so we can turn it up/down without having to leave the sofa!

Thank you all so much! That's so interesting @GasPanic about the inefficiencies of a gas fire- indeed, maybe that's what the guy in the showroom was referring to?
Your false chimney breast is amazing @TwoeightTwoeightTwoOhhhh , it looks so cosy! Did you manage to build it yourself? We're quite handy, but I hadn't actually considered that we might be able to do something like this as a DIY project!
Yes, I was confused too @CakeIsMyFavouriteAndBest , our local pub has a gas fire and its warm and looks really realistic- it's why I had considered a gas fire originally, just to be put off by the guy who I thought would be keen to sell one to me!

Thanks @Bluubird we didn’t build it ourselves but it didn’t look too tricky… if you go electric make sure to get a socket put in behind it and then it was just a straight forward wooden frame covered in plasterboard (We didn’t think to make sure the back where the mantle goes is sturdy enough to take the weight of the mantle as ours weighed a ton!) then plaster it and it’s done! Sounds easy because I didn’t have to do it 😆

This is the only photo I have before it was plastered…

Bio ethanol is purely for looks and puts out very little heat. TBH you would be better off with a candle than a bio ethanol fire.

We live in a new build and have a freestanding bio ethanol fire from Le feu. It burns for 4/6 hours on one bottle of fuel depending how big the flame is. It gives out enough heat to warm the room and has a flame and slight flickering noise. I love the look of it but it does need a window open and has a slight smell when first lit

We have bio-ethanol. Don't get it for heat! It's basically decorative, although it does generate a bit of heat you do need to ventilate a bit of you've got the fire on for long. It is an actual flame but quite small and has a very slight aroma. We just wanted the option of a real flame and bio-ethanol was a cheap way to achieve it. In most cases, definitely ours anyway, the most efficient heating is central heating. The flame is just for cosy feels.

Basically the minimal heat generated from a bio ethanol fire is way more off set by the amount of heat you lose out of the house by having to keep a window open for ventilation.

Honestly a simpler and much cheaper alternative to a bio ethanol fire is to get a candle.

I once put a dimplex optimist stove in a house without a fire. I used to call it the most expensive electric candle ever 😂. I never had cause to use it as a heater but you could.

The steam is fairly realistic, definitely creates ambience. I first saw one in a holiday cottage and was impressed, bought one when I got home.

Thank you for the pictures @TwoeightTwoeightTwoOhhhh , they're really useful, and definitely food for thought! Hmm... seems there's some very mixed reviews on the bioethanol fires!

I reinstated two closed chimneys in my home, both have gas fires as I don’t like the hassle and mess of logs burners. They’re very efficient at 80% output so heat the room well and look great, but they aren’t cheap so if you’re moving in the next few years, consider the cost and maybe look at cheaper electric options

I’ve found gas fires great if you want real heat without the faff, but bioethanol is decent for pure vibe, though it won’t warm the room much. If you ever fancy making the whole area look a bit more special, I got some decent inspo from https://emersonproservices.com/masonry-pavers/richardson-tx/ for how to frame a fireplace space so it feels more like a feature instead of an afterthought.

We were advised that the wood burner in our house was unsafe as the flue was fitted too close to the wooden lintel over the fireplace. The lintel which is in the middle of a massive stone wall and would have been almost impossible to take out.

We opted for a bioethanol stove. It fills the space, has a similar look to a wood burner and you get a flame (not quite as pretty as a real fire) and it does give off a reasonable amount of heat, although we don't rely on it daily. It was cheap, quick and requires no installation. You can move them around, take it outside even, if you wish. It will come with us when we move this year. The only downside is a very mild smell of ethanol, but I find it not unpleasant, just different to wood/gas, and I either don't notice it or it dissipates after it's been lit for a bit.

Have you got a working chimney?

No, no working chimney unfortunately

Electric would give you good air quality. Wood burners pollute inside and outside.

We have a Broseley Hereford 5 gas stove , it looks the part and I can’t do fires / log burners as I have COPD

I had a bio ethanol fireplace but it didn’t last an evening and was a faff, though it was a beautiful sculptural statement. In one property I have a lovely marble fireplace but the chimney is no more. I installed an electric Dimplex Optimyst stove, which is as realistic a flame as I’ve seen. You need to use filtered water but it’s cheap! There’s a heat option but I usually just have the flame.

Then I think you need a electric one with fake flame. I have seen iron imitation stoves. There are some gas ones that are sealed and have a balanced flue going through the wall, like a boiler.

I seem to hear a lot of people grumbling about optimyst.

We went from an open fire to an electric fire- wood burner style. It’s cast iron and cost near on a thousand pounds. Can’t wait to have a log burner installed. I miss the coziness so much.