Wonderfire Eclipse Hole in the Wall Gas Fire

[huckleberry]

I feel I was conned into buying what I now read to be a 'Decorative' gas fire when I wanted one to heat my living room without using my central heating. Since paying over =A31k to have it installed I find it doesn't heat anything. It all goes up the chimney. Has anyone else fallen for this type of fire and do we have no comeback at all against either Wonderfire or the showroom that sold me it? I feel very angry but powerless other than to pay out more money to buy a replacement.

[EricP]

Orbflame Technology White Pebble Bed Available in brass or chrome Suitable for hearth or hole in the wall Concealed front controls Heat Output: 2.6 KW

This it?

[Andrew Gabriel]

I think this applies to all gas fires which are intended to look like real fires. After all, a real fire also sends most of its heat straight up the chimney. I've got a Kohlangaz one which is something like 6kW input 2kW output which was the highest efficiency one I could find 20 years ago, which looked anything like realistic. (I've never seen a more realistic one since either.)

What did you ask for, a nice looking realistic fire, or a functional heater? I don't think the two things exist in one product. I also have a proper gas wall heater of the same age, which is 2.9kW input and 2.2kW output, which I used to use for real heating (it's now just a backup if the central heating ever went wrong).

[huckleberry]

Yes it's the Eclipse with white pebble etc

[huckleberry]

We asked for a modern looking fire that would do what our old wall mounted radiant convector Radiation Sunbeam type fire, the ones with three ceramic radiants in, did. i.e heat our room without central heating. We hate the look of fake coal fire gas fires.

[sm_jamieson]

There are some with a convector section at the top that directs the heat into the room - a friend has one, don't know the model. Don't know how flue gas / heat flow is separated etc., but it gives out quite a lot of heat. Maybe the pebble stuff affects output. You want the fake "coals" to radiate heat into the room also. But of course you always lose some heat up the chimney. Simon.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Yes, my Kohlangaz Kamina works that way. The flue gas goes through a heat exchanger before being expelled from the back of the unit, and this is used to heat the air in a convection path which draws in at the bottom front and has an outlet grille at the top front. This is in addition to the radiant heat from the coals of course.

Most, in fact.

[Ed Sirett]

2.6kW should be enough (unless the room is very large and draughty). The old one was probably nearer 3-5kW output. If there is a very substantial draw on the new fire then it might be drawing in a lot of cold air from outside.

I'm not familiar with this model but there may be some sort of flue restrictor plate which might need to be set in place. This will be especially true of most/all of the following are true:

1) Good ventilation from outside or else where. 2) Large chimney being used as a flue. 3) More than 4m of chimney height.

HTH

[Steve W]

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