What is this please? Unidare appliance

jaffa20

Hi all, purchased a house last year which has gas heating (converted from oil i think). There is strange looking fireplace in the sitting room which i thought might be electric but now not so sure anymore. I was planning on removing it and putting in a more modern electric fireplace but not sure how to remove this thing. Here are a few photos. Hope you can help identify.

By the way the house is quite old, build around 1980 and there is pipes behind the fireplace so may have a back boiler connected to open fireplace. Not sure that works with gas heating now anyway.

Thanks for any advice

jaffa20

Photos attached

Tom44

The fact that the label says " SOLID FUEL APPLIANCE " is a clue in itself.

Basically its an old inset stove that burns coal and logs, you might need someone to confirm wether its connected to the heating system before you try DIY.

Bulb is an afterthought to give it a nice look by previous owner.

jaffa20

Tom44 wrote: »

The fact that the label says " SOLID FUEL APPLIANCE " is a clue in itself.

Basically its an old inset stove that burns coal and logs, you might need someone to confirm wether its connected to the heating system before you try DIY.

Bulb is an afterthought to give it a nice look by previous owner.

Thanks, I wouldn't mind a stove to heat downstairs but this thing is prob out of action for some time. Guess will get a plumber/stove fitter to have a look at it and see what kind of cost is involved to replace.

coylemj

Myself and a few lads rented a newish house in Clonsilla in 1981-82, we had a similar fireplace with a glass door. It had a back boiler and we burned anthracite nuggets, they burned slowly and gave off great heat. The unit involved a back boiler and somewhere near the fireplace was an electric switch to run a pump to divert the hot water to either the ground or first floor radiators. The water went one way without the pump and the pump sent it the other way, I can't remember which.

jaffa20

Thanks, there is a twisty diall beside the fire which probably does something.
I thought there might be a back boiler but now with Gas heating i'm not sure if that would work anyway or maybe back boilers can function with gas or oil heating. Guess i need a professional who would have experience with this kind of set up.

coylemj

jaffa20 wrote: »

Thanks, there is a twisty diall beside the fire which probably does something.

That adjusts the air intake, it's commonly known as a 'damper'. We turned it down to the lowest setting at night so that we'd have red hot embers the next morning and we could toss in a few nuggets to get the fire going again.