Choosing the right gas fires for your home and tips on different types of gas fires and chimneys

A few years ago, gas fire was classified as a decorative feature that will create a focus for your living room. Our gas prices are much Reasonable than now, so the emphasis on manufacturers was to make the gas fire look as realistic as possible, which led to a gas fire that looked like a real coal fire, but was extremely expensive and inefficient.

With constantly increasing heating bills, requirements have now changed, and homeowners do not want to spend money on a device that loses most of the heat generated by the chimney, or on a gas fires that uses so much gas that they need to be blown air. - The fan is installed in the room to comply with current safety regulations.

The last five years have led to dramatic changes in the heating market. While ongoing gas fires still produce realistic, lively flames, efficiency comes first when consumers look for a new gas appliance, and most of the models currently offered are highly efficient and are now classified as a heat source. It can be used regardless of your main central heating.

Whatever the type of chimney in your house, or even if it does not have a chimney at all, a gas fires will do. In milder winters, many of these models will be enough to heat the room, which means that you do not need to constantly turn on central heating if you spend most of your time in one room. This will significantly save on utility bills, which is an important factor in the current environment.

Class 2 prefabricated chimneys

Typically installed in homes built in the 1980s, a prefabricated chimney is a shallow chimney built into a wall cavity using concrete blocks. Concrete blocks usually turn into a steel pipe in the attic and end through relief tiles on the roof. The gas fires options available for this type of chimney were very limited, but now manufacturers have released a large number of compact appliances for prefabricated chimneys.

Several models are available of gas fires with a total depth of 100 mm, which allows them to fit all chimneys. These models are designed to be combined with a fireplace and a suitable back panel and hearth. If you are looking for a new fireplace, you should buy a fireplace for a fire with a large ledge, which will allow the back panel to move farther from the wall, making it possible to build a deeper, more realistic gas fire into a shallow chimney.

1st class chimneys

With a Class 1 chimney, there is a very small restriction on gas fires that you may have. A class 1 chimney is usually a brick chimney that can be found in older buildings. Due to the available depth and size of the chimney inside the chimney, it is, therefore possible to install most gas fires. This includes popular “hole-in-wall” fireplaces that rise above the floor and do not require a hearth that exits into the room. A real brick chimney must be tested for strength before installing a new gas appliance.

Over time, the chimneys may deteriorate and the gas fires installer will perform a smoke test to make sure that the chimney is working properly and without any leaks. If a leak is detected and cannot be fixed, a steel chimney pipe must be installed. If a 7-inch liner is installed, it will still mean that the chimney is class 1. If a smaller 5-inch liner is installed, this will change the chimney class to class 2 and limit the type of gas fire you may have.