Has anyone installed a flueless gas fire

[NicD]

Like this one;

http://www.cvo.co.uk/profiles/flueless/fireline-cl...

Looks rather nice, and easy to install.

Are there any downsides?

[dirkgently]

They require a large vent to the outside because they release the products of combustion (CO2 & H20) into the room, if the catalyst fails they can produce CO which can kill you.

I won`t fit them.

[LookAtMyCat]

dirkgently said:

They require a large vent to the outside because they release the products of combustion (CO2 & H20) into the room, if the catalyst fails they can produce CO which can kill you.

I won`t fit them.

I'm very glad you're not fitting them if you don't know what the vent is actually for.

I've fitted about 10 or so over the years. Some customers love them, some really don't like them at all. One lady swears it gives her headaches and eye irritation.

They are totally legal and very safe when installed correctly. BUT; I don't think i'd have one in my house. They do make the room quite stuffy and give off a bit of a smell, even after years of use. They also help to create a lot of condensation. They must be serviced every year religiously.

If you do have one make sure the vent is not over the other side of the room creating a draught through the room. I try to position the vent in a location where the draught doesn't pass through a main area (usually off to the side so the draught runs along one wall).

Your best bet is to go in the home of someone you know that has one and try it out.

[barney123]

NicD said:

Like this one;

http://www.cvo.co.uk/profiles/flueless/fireline-cl...

Looks rather nice, and easy to install.

Are there any downsides?

We have had one for around 4 years or so - which has been fine, we don't have any condensation.

Ours is this one : http://direct-firesonline.co.uk/hole-in-the-wall-f...

Warms the room up very quickly.

We just have a CO detector in the room, for safety.

[andym1603]

Had one for a while, produced a good heat. There was a slight smell from it, but had to Replace it as we could not keep the wall and ceiling above the fire free from brown stains which I expect was coming from the catalysts.

[dirkgently]

LookAtMyCat said:

I'm very glad you're not fitting them if you don't know what the vent is actually for.

I've fitted about 10 or so over the years. Some customers love them, some really don't like them at all. One lady swears it gives her headaches and eye irritation.

They are totally legal and very safe when installed correctly. BUT; I don't think i'd have one in my house. They do make the room quite stuffy and give off a bit of a smell, even after years of use. They also help to create a lot of condensation. They must be serviced every year religiously.

If you do have one make sure the vent is not over the other side of the room creating a draught through the room. I try to position the vent in a location where the draught doesn't pass through a main area (usually off to the side so the draught runs along one wall).

Your best bet is to go in the home of someone you know that has one and try it out.

Were you born an obnoxious tosser or do you practice hard?

[LookAtMyCat]

dirkgently said:

Were you born an obnoxious tosser or do you practice hard?

Did you fall asleep during ventilation or are you just bit of a simple ?

[eldar]

dirkgently said:

Were you born an obnoxious tosser or do you practice hard?

You give lessons, obviously.

[Rickyy]

I don't like them and I'm not keen on installing them.

As Dirk said, you need a sizeable vent, 100cm2 IIRC, as they release products of combustion in to the room, so need a permanent supply of fresh air for combustion, otherwise re burnt CO2 = CO.

There seems to be two types, catalyst and non-catalyst.

The non catalyst are usually very low powered, ~ 2kw and generally don't give off a great deal of heat. The catalyst ones are more powerful, but rely on the catalyst to keep the products of combustion to a safe level.

Do you have an outside wall? A balanced flue fire is a far better alternative IMO.

[NicD]

Hmm, not the outstanding reviews I expected

We do have an outside wall but not sure I want to put flue through it.

Will have to investigate this more. thank you for the replies.

[dirkgently]

eldar said:

dirkgently said:

Were you born an obnoxious tosser or do you practice hard?

You give lessons, obviously.

I could give a master class if I so desired.

I post on here to try to help people, one of them being me. I realise that I have difficulty in expressing myself in the written word so posting helps. Constructive criticism is OK as it helps me understand my shortcomings, Ricyys post being helpful as he knew what I meant.I will try to construct my answers in a more concise way in the future.

[wseed]

I have a similar looking one in the front lounge but it's a balanced flu one. We did look at the flue-less but the low heat output and fact that you have to have a large vent put us off. The one we eventually went for was a balanced flue, Dru brand one it was pretty straight forward to install just cutting out the internal brick to shape, a lintel and a core drill for the hole for the flue. I did that work myself and then had a gas safe bod in to plumb it in and commission it. Only a few hours all together and it looks better ,higher flames than all the flueless ones I viewed which all seemed to just offer a tiny row at the bottom, significantly higher heat output and safer.

[NicD]

Will look at the balanced flue and how obtrusive the vent would be - would be right by the house entrance, hence my reticence.

[Crumpet]

I looked into these a few years back and decided against one for the reasons mentioned by others.

Another major reason was that gas fires still look crap compared to the real thing and don't really look any better than a decent electric fire. As such we went with an electric stove that creates a mist with water and looks pretty good. It's cheaper to run and you don't get any of the stuffiness in the room.