Well, in other parts of the world, the flueless gas fire has been very popular for a long time. Tens of millions exist in homes in the States, Australia and Japan, meaning that households are already benefitting from savings in gas bills, a large reduction in C02 emissions, and cheaper installation and servicing costs. These days, when prices and environmental considerations are big news, flueless gas fires are worth thinking about.
But surely you need a flue or a chimney for a gas fire to work? Apparently not. The design of the Burley flueless models allows for very clean and efficient burning, using a catalytic converter with a sensor that monitors the levels of oxygen in the room and shuts down the whole process if there’s a drop of even 1.5% in oxygen.
When you don’t have the problem of heat loss through the roof, as well as through doors and windows, it means you can conserve the heating you’ve paid for, and a big increase of warm air can be retained and circulated around your home using air vents.That makes much more sense.
Want to know how the catalytic converter works? Picture a honeycomb of specially chosen metals that attract oxygen. When any harmful carbon monoxide appears, the oxygen reacts with it and it gets converted to harmless carbon dioxide. The great news is that no Burley catalytic converters have ever been found to break down. Impressive. What’s more, the rigorous CE safety checks that you'd expect with any fire, are carried out on Burley fires without the catalytic converter, and they are still required to pass. Safety is a major selling feature in the flueless gas fire.
While it might take a few hours to install an ordinary gas fire, the flueless version takes just minutes. It’s still important to have it fitted by a registered CORGI engineer, but flueless gas fires don’t require chimney restoration or sweeping. And when it comes to servicing, all that needs doing is a clean of the fire itself, a checkup of the combustion efficiency, and an assessment of the various components to ensure no damage. Much cheaper and easier.
So how about the efficiency compared with other types of fire? In tests, a flueless gas fire with 2.5kW output was measured against an ordinary 6kW flued gas fire, a more basic gas fire, as well as an electric fire with a 2kW output. The heat production was measured to be from 3 to 12 times more per kilowatt than the other fires.
If you’re in the market for a new gas fire, it’s seriously worth considering a flueless model. Even if you’re looking for something to fit in a chimney place, the existing flue can be blocked up, and you can gain all the benefits with none of the drawbacks. Give us a call if you’d like further advice.