Gas Fire - Fire basket and gas engine or just a simple Valor gas fire?

[Farouq]

Hi all,

I am thinking of getting a gas fire installed in my lounge which has a chimney that is currently not in use.

Its an old house (1930's) and the chimney is a brick one.

The fire surround is made of brick and the hole in which a gas fire will need to be fitted is rather small (29cm wide, 60cm height).

I went to B&Q today and have found a Valor Gas fire but the required opening into the chimney is larger than the dimensions mentioned above. It looks like the installer will need to cut into the stone surround but these stones are big and I don't know whether this can be easily done.

Another option is to have the whole surround removed demolished and have a fire basket and gas engine put in for a traditional look.

I'm not sure what to do. Should I go for the Valor gas fire:

perhaps a grate and fire engine:

advise appreciated.

Thanks.

[Phil L]

Did you actually measure at the back of the fire where the outlet is? - I can't imagine that 29cm is too small in width...the 60cm in height is definately not a problem.

The choice is entirely yours, whichever you like better, it all depends on how much money you want to spend and how much mess you want in your house, taking chimneys down creates a lot of soot and dust, chipping an inch or two of brickwork away does not (much!) and is considerably cheaper.

[fred]

In article , Farouq writes

Defo go for the fire, the other option will just piss hot air up the chimney. If you chose the right fire, even a narrow, open faced one, it will have an air- to-air heat exchanger which will boost the heat output room.

Have a close look at fires both in the shops and on the manufacturers' web sites to find a good looking open faced one that doesn't throw all the heat up the chimney, they rarely quote efficiency in % but will quote input gas rate & heat output.