What type of fire should you buy?

Buying a new fire is very exciting because the fireplace determines the style of your room, it can even become the centre piece of the room.  But choosing the best fire for you can be a minefield.  Just determining which fire is the best type of fire to buy can leave your head spinning.  There are so many benefits to both gas and electric fires that you might not actually know which one is the best for you and your needs.  We have put this blog together to help you to make this decision, so that you can buy the perfect fire to heat your home.

Price and on-going charges

One of the first things you might think about is the cost of purchasing the fire to begin with, plus the on-going costs of running that fire in terms of energy bills. 

When it comes to the initial purchase, electric fires are usually slightly cheaper to buy than gas fires, although this of course depends on the style of fire you choose, a high-end electric fire will cost more than the cheapest gas fire.

Installation is another charge you should consider.  Electric fires are easy to install, you literally just plug them in.  Whereas gas fires do need to be installed by a corgi registered professional and this will add a cost onto the initial charge of buying the fire.

On-going costs include energy bills and maintenance.  The maintenance for an electric fire is pretty minimal, you do not need to have any checks.  A gas fire, on the other hand, should be inspected annually by a gas engineer and of course, there is a charge for this. In terms of bills, gas fires are cheaper to run than electric fires, so you will make a monthly saving on your energy bills with a gas fire.

Efficiency

As well as costs, efficiency is also important when you are buying a fire.  An efficient fire means that all the energy you are paying goes into actually heating your home.  When a fire is anything less than 100% efficient, you are losing some of that energy but still paying for it. Not all fires are 100% effective, in fact, most gas fires aren’t. 

Electric fires do tend to be 100% efficient, which means all the energy you’re paying to power the fire is going into heating your home.  This is because they don’t burn solid fuel, they don’t need a chimney or any kind of ventilation, so the energy doesn’t get lost. 

Gas fires, on the other hand, are usually about 74% effective, however, glass fronted fires can achieve up to 90% efficiency. This is because they do require some ventilation

Environmentally Friendly

We have to consider the impact we are having on the environment if we want to help protect it.  You might think that electric fires are better for the environment, but in actuality, they aren’t perfect. 

There are three ways your fire (or anything else for that matter) can impact on the environment.  The first is whether or not it uses renewable fuel, the second is its efficiency and the third is whether or not it gives off emissions.

With this in mind, the worst option here is to opt for a solid fuel burning fire, by which we mean something like a coal fire. Electric fires don’t release any emissions into the environment and they are 100% efficient, if you use a renewable energy supplier then they are very friendly to the environment.  However, electric fires use more energy than gas fires do, often making them more to run. Gas fires use a non-renewable energy source, which isn’t great, but they do use less energy and don’t release any emissions into the environment either.

Your Room

Another important thing to consider is the room that the fire is going into. What size is it?  Is it well insulated? Does it retain its heat?  This will determine the heat output you will require from your fire.  Gas fires work by pushing radiant heat out, they have a maximum heat output of 4kw.  Electric fires, on the other hand, use convection heat, they circulate warm air around the room, their maximum heat output is half a gas fire, at only 2kw. If your room is large, poorly insulated, you would benefit from a gas fire, but if the room is small and/or well-insulated, an electric fire heats your room perfectly.