Bio Ethanol Gel Stoves - Help Please

[sunny-dave]

[ I know this should be in DiY or suchlike, but I'm interested in personal experience as well as the professional inputs]

I have a very well insulated house, with effective GCH, but it's missing a focal point source of heat in the main living room.

Ideally I'd like a woodburning stove (or gas equivalent), but a survey has said "No Way José" - there's no chimney, and balanced flue options are excluded (or made horrendously expensive/ugly) by the proximity of opening windows.

So it's either electric (which I hate) or flueless - which worries me.

I've investigated flueless gas fires - which seemed OK until I read the compulsory "huge hole in the wall or equivalent" ventilation that they need - they're expensive to buy/install too.

I've just come across this :

https://www.imaginfires.co.uk/malvern-black-bioethanol-fireplace#tab1

It seems to have a decent heat output (unlike the purely decorative gel fires I've seem before) and the running costs (max about £1 per hour) are OK for something that will be used occasionally for effect (and a bit of heat) rather than as a primary heat source - I could use it for a lot of nights before I burnt through the savings compared with buying/installing a gas stove.

So ... after that brain dump ...

Has anyone got one of these (or indeed any bio ethanol fire)?

Is it any good?

Are there drawbacks that I've missed?

Cheers

Dave x

[Tilly2]

I had a really good look at that website, Dave because we are looking for a different fire. I had no idea that such things existed. They do seem like the answer to your needs and I hope that someone will be able to point out any pros and cons.

The only thing I don't like about them is that the flames look very white in the videos. It doesn't look as though there is any warmth in them. We have ceramic coal in our gas room heater and they begin to glow when the fire's been on a while. Would those ceramic logs glow, at all?

[sunny-dave]

Don't know about the logs glowing, Tilly - that's the sort of help I was hoping for by posting here.

They do bung out some heat though - around 2kw - 3kw (about the same as a small electric fire).

[pixie374]

They throw out tons of heat. My parents used to have one. I think it was a bit messy to keep clean though. Do you like the fake fires or not?

[sunny-dave]

I like the look of the "woodburner lookalike" versions - I'm still a bit unclear about just how much room ventilation is needed?

[Tilly2]

I do like the idea of them and appreciate that they are heat providers.
They just look a bit...cold. Maybe, in reality, the flame doesn't look so white.

[Tilly2]

It does say, on the website that you need to ventilate the room each time you fill up the fuel reservoir.

I don't understand how it can burn without giving out any smoke or fumes. There must be some emissions.

[sunny-dave]

If it burns 100% efficiently then it will be just Carbon Dioxide and Water Vapour - so nothing nasty. I do wonder about it making the room a bit humid though?

[Tilly2]

So warm and damp?

[pixie374]

I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but we had fake electric ones at the residential home- either flames, heat, or both and no extra ventilation needed.