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Old 24-10-20, 09:26 AM   #1
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Default gas fire versus central heating

I bought a hole in the wall, open flame gas fire in 2018 because I liked the look. They are not very efficient, a factor I neglected to investigate when I purchased.

Just for fun (!) I ran the fire for 1 hour and measured its gas usage, then repeated it using the central heating (a Bosch/Worcester 30kW combi boiler). The boiler feeds 9 radiators and it's a semi-detached, dormer bungalow. Two radiators in the hall, 1 in every other room. I don't have a smart meter. which would have made things a bit easier.

The gas fire used 0.475 m³ gas in 1 hour raising the temp from 62°F to 68°F in the lounge whereas the boiler used 1.297 m³ gas raising the hall temp from 60°F to 66°F.

I had been using the fire to heat 1 room thinking it was more economical than using the c/h, which it is for 1 hour but I'd been running the gas fire for 5 hours and only had 1 warm room. I think plan B is called for...
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Old 24-10-20, 10:53 AM   #2
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Default Re: gas fire versus central heating

Our in-grate gas fire is nice for chilly weekend days when we hibernate in the sitting room and don't need to heat the whole house. Trouble is we only use it every now and then so the burning dust smell is horrid every time

The CH is fine the rest of the time.
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Old 24-10-20, 12:29 PM   #3
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Default Re: gas fire versus central heating

Heating the house when you need it can be a false economy. Maintaining a reasonable temperature when you are in maybe a better bet. It is for me, but I am in all day.
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Old 24-10-20, 04:44 PM   #4
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Default Re: gas fire versus central heating

We have a Drugas log effect gas fire with glass front and balanced flue, so takes no air out of the room or carbon monoxide into the room, they are very efficient as well as looking amazingly like a real fire ( if the glass is clean ) without any of the mess...it is 6.5kw output, and unlike a real fire or log burner stove very controllable... we also have gas Boiler for CH and HW, without a doubt the condensing boiler makes most sense for heating the house. The jury is still out on heating house all the time vs just when you need it, but if if house is allowed to get cold and walls get damp then energy is needed to dry them out. We also run refrigerant dehumidifier which keeps walls dry and also makes a contribution to heating the house.. so rather than having heating on 24/7 the dehumidifier keeps walls dry when heating is not on.
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Last edited by SV650rules; 24-10-20 at 04:46 PM.
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Old 25-10-20, 06:45 PM   #5
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Default Re: gas fire versus central heating

I always thought central heating was more efficient for heating the house than a single fire in the lounge, which I think is just for a quick boost of heat in that one room. I have and electric 'coal effect' fire in the lounge which is switched on usually one day in the year, christmas day, because it looks cosy and christmasy !
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Old 25-10-20, 09:41 PM   #6
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Default Re: gas fire versus central heating

The heat from the one warm room is sucked out by the cold rooms. You might use less gas but you won't have a house that is warm like with the CH so you're not necessarily comparing like with like.
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Old 25-10-20, 11:01 PM   #7
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Default Re: gas fire versus central heating

With the advent of thermostatic radiator valves and even voice controlled 'alexa' etc valves there is no need to heat a whole house as such with CH these days.

Keeping the heat down but still not background cold in little used rooms will still allow for a significant saving over having them uncontrolled and allow a greater control over the CH as a whole.

If you are looking for an efficient heating (or even cooling in the summer) system and have a decent sized back garden, look into ground sourced heat pumps instead - although that works best for underfloor heating and is still applicable for the RHI meaning a positive balance at the end of the year when you figure in electric running costs.
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Old 26-10-20, 09:17 AM   #8
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Default Re: gas fire versus central heating

It is the amount of heat inside the building that is important, and keeping the damp out of walls and ceilings. If there is a room or two in the house that are cooler than the rest the hotter air ( which can hold more moisture ) will seep into them and condense water on the cooler surfaces. Having thermostatic radiator valves only works if doors are kept closed pretty much all the time and you do not have a thermostatic valve in same room as a wall thermostat. As for Alexa, Hive etc the eyewatering money their little gadgets cost will buy you a hell of a lot of gas, I can get a normal digtital room stat for <£20. As I said we have a refrigerant dehumidifier upstairs ( the warmer moister air rises ) and that keeps the humidity around 50% which keeps walls and ceilings nice and dry and the insulation properties of plasterboard are pretty good if it is dry, it also keeps bathrooms free of mould and dries the towels without them having to be near or draped over a radiator ( which defeats the object of the radiator if it is blocked off by towels and just pumping warm damp air into the house ). The dehumifier also keeps bedclothes nice and dry and free of dust mites ( the reason I got our first dehumidifier many years ago was because of a dust mite allergy, if the rooms and bedclothes are kept below about 55% the little buggers can't breed, they live off the dead skin flakes, which we all shed million of every day - it is their fecal pellets that are the allergen, not the mites themselves, although who wants something that ugly sharing their bed ? ).
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Last edited by SV650rules; 26-10-20 at 09:21 AM.
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Old 26-10-20, 11:42 AM   #9
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Default Re: gas fire versus central heating

Quote:
Originally Posted by Seeker View Post
I bought a hole in the wall, open flame gas fire in 2018 because I liked the look. They are not very efficient, a factor I neglected to investigate when I purchased.
When we bought our new house in 1997 there was an open gas fire fitted by builders, and the problem was it was very inefficient and needed electrical power to run, so if you had a power cut you lost CH and gas fire. I checked the spec of the fire and it was about 40% efficient - I was that disgusted that builders could fit such an inefficient fire that I wrote to my MP who passed the letter on to to appropriate department and I get a reply from them promising to look into it.

A couple of years after we moved in we fitted a glass fronted log effect Dru gas fire, about 90% efficient, has a balanced flue and needs no electrical power supply, so if we get power cuts at least we can keep house warm ( with an equivalent 2 to 6.5kw output it does a decent job of keeping whole house reasonably warm. It also looks really cosy, just like a real log fire but without the mess, except to clean inside the glass door a couple of times a year.
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Last edited by SV650rules; 26-10-20 at 11:43 AM.
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Old 27-10-20, 02:31 PM   #10
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Default Re: gas fire versus central heating

Also a good standard of thermal insulation of course to keep the heat in ( and trying to persuade people to keep windows and doors shut when the heating is on !!!)
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