most efficient fire on a budget

OU812

Have a gas fire which is out of commission & sealed off at the tap beside the fireplace.

Looking to replace it to get some source of heat in there again (madness to run the heating in the house when it's only needed there).

There is a fireback in it, so solid fuel is an option, but I'm looking for the most efficient form of heating.

I could replace it with another gas fire, or a solid fuel fire but doesn't most of the heat go up the chimney ?

If I go electric, is that going to be very expensive to run ?

Budget is about €300/400. Anyone with any advice ?

Thanks

shane0007

If you could increase your budget, I would go for a inset gas stove. 89% efficient, little maintenance, no cleaning out & light when you want.
Great heat from them. I've fitted a good few Valor ones & they are excellent.
Unit cost circa €600 plus labour, pipework & fittings.

OU812

That's probably going to treble my budget so.

shane0007

OU812 wrote: »

That's probably going to treble my budget so.

It'll cost you a lot more to go the solid fuel route.
Cheaper option then is a Decorative Fuel Effect gas fire (DFE). The unit cost is circa €200 but the efficiency will nose dive to about 20 - 25%, so it will cost more to run for a lot less heat.

OU812

Do they come out to the hearth or sit in with a glass door front?

What do they burn?

shane0007

OU812 wrote: »

Do they come out to the hearth or sit in with a glass door front?

What do they burn?

Flush. They convert warm air into the room.
They are natural gas but can be converted to run on LPG.

OU812

Don't think we could stretch to that though

tcif

I used to have a gas fire in my living room and I replaced it in 2011 with a non-boiler multifuel stove and it was one of the best decisions I ever made! If memory serves the stove was about €400 and about €200 for fitting and I have enough room in the garden shed to buy fuel in 1 tonne bags which is much better value than small bags from the garage forecourt. The heat out of it is fantastic and most modern stoves will be in the region of 80% efficiency, so much better than an open fire.

One other factor you may or not think is a consideration but which I factored in given I did this in the wake of the awful winter of 2010, when electricity cuts meant no heating of any other sort: with a solid fuel stove you'll always have at least one warm room in the house.

shane0007

tcif wrote: »

I used to have a gas fire in my living room and I replaced it in 2011 with a non-boiler multifuel stove and it was one of the best decisions I ever made! If memory serves the stove was about €400 and about €200 for fitting and I have enough room in the garden shed to buy fuel in 1 tonne bags which is much better value than small bags from the garage forecourt. The heat out of it is fantastic and most modern stoves will be in the region of 80% efficiency, so much better than an open fire.

If a stove is fitted, the hearth will most likely have to be extended to that there is 225mm non-combustible material in front of the door.
The flue will also have to be investigated as many gas flues are not suitable for solid fuel, so a liner may have to be installed. This cost must also be factored.

tcif wrote: »

One other factor you may or not think is a consideration but which I factored in given I did this in the wake of the awful winter of 2010, when electricity cuts meant no heating of any other sort: with a solid fuel stove you'll always have at least one warm room in the house.

Gas fires do not need electricity either.
Most are lit with a Piezo.

cranefly

If your budget will stretch to it i would go down the route of a inset stove, you can get one for a reasonable price these days, even if all else fails and you can not afford the gas for a gas fire, at least with a stove you can burn wood and sticks in it, plenty of times i remember walking round the edge of fields filling an empty fertilizer bag with broken sticks, that would keep the fire going all night, the way things are going with the price of everything nowadays especially with all these new household bills coming along, fuel bills rising etc.

shane0007

I agree. I would also favour the solid fuel inset route, but a budget of €300 - €400 just wouldn't get near it.
Cost of inset (anywhere from €600 - €1,200), flue adaptor & seals €100, solid fuel flue liner €30 per meter (€180), flue terminal kit €50. Then add in the labour costs.