Open fireplace VS wood stoves

idardh

What do you consider when buying a new fireplace for your home?

• Efficiency?
• Maintenance?
• Cost of running/purchase?
• Should it be open fireplace or a stove?
• Brand?
• Style?

stapeler

Avoid an open fire if possible as they are way too inefficient.
Lots of stoves on the market and and far more efficient.
As for maintenance the're much the same, it's really just cleaning ashes every few days and an annual chimney sweep.
Stanley traditionally made a good stove...

magicbastarder

i tore out a fireplace and put in a stove.
you get up to three times as much heat from a given amount of fuel in a stove than you would in an open fire.
stanley are probably among the cheapest you'd get in ireland - you can get more expensive ones which are more efficient, but i'm not sure by how much.

i bought a stanley, and made the mistake of not going for the boiler model, as the room it's in can get uncomfortably warm. the boiler model doesn't put out as much heat into the room it's in, but can heat other rooms in the house. they're more awkward to install, though.

ircoha

magicbastarder wrote:

i tore out a fireplace and put in a stove.
you get up to three times as much heat from a given amount of fuel in a stove than you would in an open fire.
stanley are probably among the cheapest you'd get in ireland - you can get more expensive ones which are more efficient, but i'm not sure by how much.

i bought a stanley, and made the mistake of not going for the boiler model, as the room it's in can get uncomfortably warm. the boiler model doesn't put out as much heat into the room it's in, but can heat other rooms in the house. they're more awkward to install, though.

OP see other posts on the issues of 'splicing' a BB onto an existing OFCH/GFCH closed system

idardh

The scandinavian stoves with large window?! have nice design, but how do they compare with other stoves in regard to cleaning/maintenance and efficiency?

Example:
http://www.jotuluk.com/content/products/ProductType____3618.aspx

ircoha

idardh wrote:

The scandinavian stoves with large window?! have nice design, but how do they compare with other stoves in regard to cleaning/maintenance and efficiency?

Example:
http://www.jotuluk.com/content/products/ProductType____3618.aspx

one of the issues with all of these stoves is whether the glass will stay clean, particularly if using mixed fuel: It would be interesting to hear from current users bhow they faired out in this area.

If they blacken up like the old ones, then u may as well put in the boiler in the FP:eek:

AckwelFoley

No competition

Stoves al the way.

10-10-20

An open fire is just like an open door. All the heat is lost, inefficient, cause drafts...