Does anyone have a Bio ethanol fireplace/stove?

Sammysmiths

Sammysmiths

Well-known member
We dont have the option of a chimney or flu so ive been looking at bio ethanol stoves for the house.
We currently have a cast iron pot belly style gas fire which is non-functioning and purely decorative. I was wondering if i could rip out the innards and fit a bio ethanol tank so it will be a functioning fire? Any experts or advice on here please?
Our current decorative gas fire looks similar to this.
a245cdb181efa94af8fc5767747661ee by jason greenwood, on Flickr
 
Yes - we ummed and ahhed between a biofuel fire or getting the chimney swept, a flue put in and a log burner.
Absolutely no regrets. The amount of heat output generated isnt the same as a log burner bur, for the house we're in, it's more than enough. The fire tends to get a bit of welly at this time of year and in Feb/March in lieu of putting the central heating on.
It's clean and tidy and, most importantly, safe to use. I think we paid around £400 or so for the fore and got a few ceramic logs off Amazon for about £25.
For the first few goes you get a bit of a smell from the fuel and fire, but after that it settles down. We've had ours 3 or 4 years I think it is now, and it's been great.
1l bottles of bioethanol work out at about £3 a go and we get two evenings worth of fires out of that.
Hope this is of some help 👍
 
I've got three, all converted from French woodburning stoves, probably 100 plus years old. They all have different styles of bio fuel burners in and I think you should be able to convert your existing stove by adding in a fuel box. Both places that I got mine from didn't sell the boxes separately though, so the hard bit might be buying a box of the right shape and size.

I'd recommend them, you get a real flame and decent heat for minimal **** on.
 
Many thanks. Ill have a look at our defunkt gas fire and see what i can rip out and how to install a firebox. I assume i can just cut a rectangle out of the bottom and sink in the firebox? Would I run it wth the glass front door open or closed? Without a closer look at the cast iron fire, i dont know where the vents are located.
 
One of mine has a circular box that is sunken via a hole in a sort of raised floor. The others have rectangular boxes that just sit inside the fire. There doesn't seem to be any difference in the outputs.

Two of mine have no glass in them, so the heat just comes straight out gaps in the door. One has some sort of special plastic. I can't remember it's name. Again, there is no noticeable difference in the warmth or the burn time.
 
Just checked and the 'special plastic' is actually some mined natural substance from India called MICA. It looks and feels like plastic though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top