flueless gas fires - powaflue?

Hi

Faced with a bill of £1500 squids to open up a hearth and rebuild a chimney stack, I'm wondering about a flueless gas fire.

Any comments on how good they are? We've got a rad in the front room, so there would be some extra warmth in the room which should prevent any condensation problems which I understand they may have.

And can anyone clarify what a powaflue is - I've seen an nice looking model which says that whilst it doesn't need a chimney, it does have a twin walled flue, so I'm wondering where the twin walled flue actually goes!

Reply to
Mark Watson
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A good few years ago when I bought a "Cannon Coalridge" balanced flue fire, there was another model with a "Power Flue". This was for fitting in places not against an outside wall.

The "power flue" was a rather chunky-looking ISTR white painted probably metal "skirting board-shaped" pipe that could be run around the room at floor level just like a rather ugly skirting board. Presumably it eventually reached a place where it could pop outside. I think there was a fan in the fire to make it work.

Things may have move on from that - it was a good few years ago.

Regards, Simon.

Reply to
Simon Stroud

OK, the following types of flue are available for gas appliances.

  1. Flueless. The oxygen comes from the room. The fumes go back into it. Advantages: Very cheap, simple. Disadvantages: Possible death. Limited to low power. Requires massive ventilation. Condensation. Examples: Gas hob. Portable gas space heater. Cigarette lighter. Plumbing torch.
  2. Open flue. The oxygen comes from the room. The fumes rise up a chimney flue using convection.

Advantages: Chimney may already exist. Removes combustion products, like CO and water. Cheap appliances. Disadvantages: Ventilation still required. Chimney problems may lead to room contamination. Flue expensive to construct or fix if broken. Examples: Traditional range cooker. Boiler from 1970s. Traditional gas fire.

  1. Balanced flue. The oxygen comes from the flue terminal. The fumes are ejected from the flue terminal. Advantages: Room sealed. No specific requirement for ventilation. Cheap flue to install. Disadvantages: Flue length limited to short horizontal length through wall. Must be situated against outside wall. More expensive appliance. Examples: Balanced flue fire. Boiler from 1980s.
  2. Fanned flue. The oxygen comes from the flue terminal. The fumes are ejected from the flue terminal. A fan is used to enhance this process. Advantages: As balanced flue. Additionally, flue length can be long, and involve bends and vertical and horizontal sections. More reliable flow than by convection/expansion alone. Good for high power applications. Disadvantages: More expensive appliance. Long vertical flues may be more expensive than an existing open flue. Fan may be noisy. Examples: Fanned flue fire. Modern boiler.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Mark have yor purchased a power flue as I am in the process of removin

Ian Wood

Reply to
Ian Wood

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