Gas fire or log burner?

Gas fire that looks like a log burner? - no mess. There are quite a few stylish ones.

We love our woodburner but it's like a dependant relative.

And wood's not cheap.

I've had a log burner for about 9 years or so and they're really not expensive to run. A large bag of logs, that lasts me about 3 or 4 evenings of burning, costs £3.50. Kindling is about £1.00 for a large bag and lasts months and the free newspapers that come through the letter box cost nothing. I have the chimney swept once a year at a cost of £40.00. That's it really. The only cleaning of it is emptying the ash pan out once a week and that goes straight onto the garden as a mulch. I clean the inside of the glass doors with a bit of vinegar on a piece of newspaper, which goes straight back into the burner to use as kindling on the next burning. I wouldn't swap my log burner for a gas or electric fire but, if mobility is an issue, carrying logs into the house might be a problem for some people.

A log open fire very cosy.
The new gas fires do look very real though, and instant heat when you want it.

Gas log burner can be activated by remote from armchair any time it feels a bit chilly. Needs annual service & no other maintenance. They look very good too.

We have no gas where I live so depend on oil, and a open fire for high days and holidays. I'd jump at the chance of an instant gas fire!

We have two log burners and love them. The heat spreads through the whole house, so the CH is turned down.
They are quite expensive to initially buy and install, the gas versions are no cheaper.

You can also get electric ones that look like log burners but no ugly fat pipe coming out of the top. I quite fancy one actually.

having moved house and left old log burner behind and enjoying the underfloor heating , I am dismayed to hear that someone is coming tomorrow to move the brand new boiler , so I will have to do battle with a new log burner to make sure my delicate ( ahemmm ) little body don't perish in the cold. Actually I will probably like the fire , it is cheerful , They do give out a lot of heat

Apparently there is a lot of concern now that log burners are causing high levels of pollution.

Log burners are expensive to buy and install, a gas one is cheaper.

The price of wood depends on where you live. In a rural area wood is cheaper. A cold winter's supply, ie. In January and February we light the fire several times a week on week days as well as weekends cost me about £100. I have never bought kindling, I usually prune enough sticks from shrubs in the garden to see us through plus burning any odd bits of wood that come my way from fence posts to pallets.

Half the fun of a wood burner is the fiddling round you do with it, and the wood ash can go on the garden.

I think it is horses for courses. We live in an old house in a village. We have a wood burner. DD has a modern semi in a town and has an electric one. Both feel absolutely right in their situation.

We faced this decision earlier this year. Where we lived before we had a log burner and loved it. But these rooms are much smaller and could get too hot quickly and you can’t turn a log burner down or off quickly.

In the end we settled for a gas fire set quite deeply into the chimney breast that has real logs but artificial flames. Everyone says it looks lovely and we can turn it up, down at the flick of a switch or just have the flames but with no heat.

PS ours in electric

Ours is electric

We do now have a wood burning stove and I would not say it is cheap to run - the wood is really expensive and it gobbles it up. But we do love it - there is nothing like real flames to sit round and it gives such cozy warmth. We have it on most of the day and turn the heating off - we leave the doors between the living room and the rest of the house open and capitalise on the heat.

Trekking the logs round to the wood store in the wheelbarrow is a bit of a chore, but I like doing stuff outside and I just do it bit by bit.

We got our log burner from my Sis in law who was selling one she had taken out of her new house, so we got it cheap. It went into the fireplace nicely. We were going to have a gas fire put in, but discovered that there was no pipework to the back of the fire. It would mean putting in pipes and digging up the hall floor!? I love the wood burning stove now.

We have just had a multi fuel burner installed to replace the open fire we have had for 25 years. It is lovely and very cosy and if we open the door it heats the rest of the house too.
We have never had to buy wood, we always get it from anyone who has some to get rid of so its very cost effective. We keep some by the backdoor in a bin.
A stove higher than 5 kw requires separate ventilation. We have a largish room but our 5 kw is more than adequate.

We've just had a new gas fire put in. It puts out the highest amount of heat and it can be switched on with a remote. It's bliss. It's a big room and a cold house. The previous was was more decorative and I couldn't scrabble around on the floor to turn it on. We used to have open fires but the cleaning and we always seemed to run out of coal in the snow...and we live up a hill and down a hill. DH would love a coal fire . Log burners I gather are a big problem for pollution .

We’ve got an open fire but just use it on special occasions.

We've got one of each! Log burner when we are are in all day or for a long cosy evening. Gas fire for instant heat. The gas fire is coal effect and has a glass front which you can hardly see and is so efficient compared with the open coal effect one we took out. We also operate it by remote control.

We have a multi burner which we burn logs on. It just slotted into the fire grate with no need to line the chimney. And it is very efficient. The chimney breast gets very comfortably warm and it heats the bedroom above. We light it around 6.00 and put the last logs on at 8.30-9.00 as by then we’re roasting.

But - the glass soots up quite quickly and burns on as it’s only a small grate and is a beggar to clean off (resorted to caustic soda now), wood ash tends to float around a bit and our hearth isn’t big enough to contain all the bits - and it has to be serviced and the chimney swept each year. The wood we get is around £120 a load which last all winter, but needs extra chopping to fit our small fire. I think if we did it now we’d opt for a real flame gas fire.

When my DH was alive I loved the wood burner - now I have to lay it, clean it out and bring in the logs myself I have vowed when I move it will be gas or electric all the way!!!

Our woodburning stove is large and it heats the whole place. Like Luckygirl we leave doors open so we hardly ever have to turn on any radiators.

We have our own supply of wood but it's poplar which doesn't burn very well after the initial 'flare up' so we buy seasoned wood from a friend and mix the two together.

The ash needs cleaning out twice a week and I give the glass door a clean every day with some cream cleaner on a sponge. The newspaper, ash and vinegar method is too messy IMO.

Wouldn't be without it though. The top gets hot enough to cook a casserole or soup and an Aga kettle boils enough water for tea/coffee etc.

We have a woodburner, but also gas central heating.
The log fire is very cheerful and warming (eventually) but on a cold winter morning those of us who are getting on in age need instant warmth.
Plus various pros and cons as mentioned above.
Another point - some people are allergic to the fumes from a woodburner.