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Original poster

Am wondering about changing my gas fire to the old style wood burning fireplace.....

60 replies

KaySamuels · 19/06/2008 21:19

.... but have no idea
if this is possible

if it will be lots of hassle/ expense

My main reason for doing this would be to cut fuel costs, we do not have central heating, just a gas fire on the original (?) chimney breast, which is on almost constantly in winter to warm the house through.
Hearing fuel may be going up 40% means the thought of having gas fire on all the time is giving me nightmares!!

Is anyone in the know about these things??

OP posts:
bramblebooks · 19/06/2008 21:26

We've done this a lot! - I would recommend a wood/coal burning stove with a glass front if you're going that way. I have a pretty open fire and we get a few draughts and a LOT of coal dust. Wouldn't swop it though! My neighbour's wood/coal burner really lobs the heat out and stays hot all evening.

A builder did the job for me in a day - I had bought the stuff from reclaim/ ordered bits to size/ had stuff made to size.(did 4 fireplaces in this house!)

Original poster
KaySamuels · 19/06/2008 21:36

Thanks for reply bramblebooks

Am not sure what the fireplace behing our gas fire is like TBH, i know chimney ok as sometimes hear things fall down it!!

We would definately need the builder, been waiting for dp to put a screw in a dining chair for a frtnight now

DP is keen on the idea, I guess whats putting me off is the mess and expense of setting one up? Did you find it affordable to put in place?

When you say reclaim? What is that?

OP posts:
muttonbird · 19/06/2008 22:20

KayS we are thinking of doing the same thing but with a woodburner (the glass-fronted type as mentioned by bramblebooks).

We are currently waiting for the builder to come back with a price to fit it - I am a bit concerned about the state of the chimney but am told that with a woodburner flue you don't have to worry about getting the original flue re-lined as you might with a regular fireplace.

noddyholder · 19/06/2008 22:25

We are not even considering buying somewhere without an alternative heat source. wood burner is a great idea

snapD · 19/06/2008 22:27

You still need to reline the flue with a wood burner

snapD · 19/06/2008 22:27

Mine runs my central heating and domestic hot water

& I love it

funnypeculiar · 19/06/2008 22:33

We replaced old gas fire with log fire. There wasn't enough space for us to fit a wood burner in (you need to leave a lot of space in front of the log burner). The fireplace (Victorian) cost about £500 (on ebay & dh installed that himself. The fireplace needs to be removed by a corgi guy, and gas pipe sealed off.
Love ours - esp toasted marshmallows -although it IS a faff to clear out

trefusis · 19/06/2008 22:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

funnypeculiar · 19/06/2008 22:34

Oh, & we just got a chimneysweep round to look at the chimney. As we were installing fire not log burner (log burners give out much more heat) we didn't need a flue - just using original (Victorian) chimney.

snapD · 19/06/2008 22:34

Mine is a Aarrow Stratford

But the best are Clearview

KatyMac · 19/06/2008 22:35

Clearview are the best

But the Stratford I have is very very good

trefusis · 19/06/2008 22:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

muttonbird · 19/06/2008 22:57

SnapD - so if a woodburner and new flue is installed, the main chimney flue still needs to be re-lined?

Do you know whether there are specialist installers that should take a look? The builder we have used previously for general building works has said he can install, but it was he who told us that a re-line wasn't necessary (I don't want to risk burning the house down!)

Twinklemegan · 19/06/2008 23:01

We didn't need to reline our chimney. We just had a new stainless steel flue inserted. We removed a nasty living flame gas fire and replaced it with a lovely multi-fuel stove. My only regret was that the house was fairly warm anyway and we didn't need to use it that much.

We're about to put a stove in our new house for the same reasons as you Kay. We're on storage heaters and the winter heating costs are terrifying. Believe me, count yourself lucky you're on gas. Our fuel bills doubled when we moved here. But I'd recommend a real stove any day.

muttonbird · 19/06/2008 23:30

TwinkleM - thanks, that's good to know. I was having visions of the installation costs escalating. Might get a second builder's opinion on the state of the existing flue just in case.....

Kay - sorry for temp. hijack of thread

Chocolateteapot · 20/06/2008 01:06

We have a multi fuel stove and it is brilliant, means that we don't need the heating on most evenings if we use it. DD's room is above it and gets heated by it as well.

My top tip for cleaning the glass is damp newspaper dipped in the ash, all the soot comes off with minimal effort.

ScotsLassDownSouth · 20/06/2008 10:03

I have a beautiful Little Wenlock by Coalbrookdale. It stays on permanently from October to April, and provides the most wonderful, toasty heat.

Agree with Chocolateteapot, you tend not to need the heating on as it heats the whole house.

Wouldn't be without it.

Original poster
KaySamuels · 20/06/2008 20:34

Wow sorry everyone I went off to bed last night am pleasantly surpised by all these posts.

Lots of makes and options, didn't realise there were so many! I am going to really look into this, luckily we have a while to find the best solution before winter.

OP posts:
Trix11 · 05/07/2008 17:17

Kaysamuels - Ive just found this thread and was wondering how you are getting on with replacig your gas fire with a woodburner. We have just pulled out a nasty gas fire and was about to purchase another when dh had the idea of getting a woodburner.

Are there any contemporary wood burners out there does anyone know? Where do you buy all the accessories / extras that are needed? Can anyone have one of these fires we live in a built up area?

Are there any brands/manufacturers that I should avoid? What KW is needed for an average home?

Trix11 · 06/07/2008 15:30

bump

spudcounter · 07/07/2008 18:18

From what I read, you need to calculate the bristish thermal units needed to heat your room. It's not as easy as kw for an average home. There's an online calculator (which I tried and realised what we planned was way under what they advise but I might have done the calculatoion wrong). I suspect the shop which sells you the fireplace would advise. There ARE contemporary Italian ones out there but I think I recall these being more expensive. Flue liners and their installation cost about £500 is what I was told in the shop, and this is on top of the burner plus hearth (gulp!). You can have smokeless fuel ones...go to a website (phaps Clearview) and they give you info (I think they might be called clean burning or sthg like that).

deckchair · 07/07/2008 21:30

I'd recommend a herald multifuel. We have one and I love it.
The local shop worked out how big an output we needed.
Not cheap, a little messy but there is nothing like it.

Trix11 · 08/07/2008 10:39

Can anyone have one of these as we live in a smoke free zone - do we need any sort of permission from the council?

Chocolateteapot · 08/07/2008 19:43

I think Trix you would have to get a multi-fuel stove and burn smokeless fuel.

Trix11 · 16/07/2008 20:32

Anyone else got any tips or experience of these wood burners??