Bioethanol fireplaces advice please?

[jpgreenwood]

Does anyone have one?
We dont have the option of a chimney or flu. Ive been thinking of buying a bioethanol fire.
Our room is approx 20ft x 20ft. I was thinking it may help us to keep the central heating off for a bit and save some money, as well as being clean burning.
We have a traditional style stone effect fireplace with slate hearth tiles and back, with a feature gas stove which is non functioning and purely decorative. Its never been connected. It is cast iron. SImilar to the one in the attached picture.
I was wondering if i could just rip out the innards and modify it to install a bioethanol burner?
Can anyone advise?
a245cdb181efa94af8fc5767747661ee by jason greenwood, on Flickr

 

[Tringa]

Have to say I have no experience of these fireplaces so I could be talking rubbish.

Can't advise about what you want to do but I'd be concerned about having something burning in a room with the exhaust(carbon dioxide(if burning efficiently) and water vapour) from that burning to be discharged into the room.

Dave

 

[srichards]

God no. Bioethanol fires can be very dangerous. I knew someone that literally blew themselves up and ended up with massive burns. Injuries were fatal.

What sort of smart features does the central heating have? Extra insulation and draught proofing are also worth investigating.

If the gas fire can't work I'd get rid of it and just get one of the cheap plug in electric fake stoves. They'll give you the warm focal point for the room,

 

[boogie man]

I doubt very much whether you could just “rip out the innards and modify it”. Lots of potential hazards there I’d imagine, including ensuring there’s enough oxygen getting in so that the fuel burns properly. Also avoiding any resulting harmful emissions. (I suspect you’d invalidate your house insurance with an untested diy modification too !)


You could replace the existing stove, though the cost of that and then running it might not make financial sense. Also they don’t seem to put out a lot of heat? I’ve seen some that only give 2kw… we have a 5kw log burner and that’s only just adequate to heat a large room.

 

[JonathanRyan]

They seem a good idea, but the fire brigade don't agree.

Bioethanol and gel fuel safety

Safety advice on how to use a bioethanol or gel fire safely

www.dsfire.gov.uk

(The video on that page is pretty grim).

How about a nice modern storage heater?

 

[yzfmike]

As far as I can make out bioethanol fires are intended to give you a nice flickering flame to look at, rather than heating the environment