Solid Fuel Fireplaces - Information For The UK Consumer

There are a great many different solid fuels and solid fuel fires for sale. The most important criteria for you when choosing a solid fuel fire is which type of appliance you will be using to burn the fuel and whether you live in a smoke control area. The benefits of solid fuel fires are that in general they generate far more heat than most gas fires and the sounds of crackling coal and logs is very pleasant on cold winters evening.

The Draw backs for solid fuel fires are that before you light the fire you will have to clean out the grate from the previous evening fire. This can be a dirty job and it is well advisable to put newspaper down on the hearth before you begin. In addition if you like to get dressed for work by the fire in the morning then forget it. It really is a quite time consuming job to light a good fire, and not something that most people do in the morning when time is precious. That being said when you have lit the fire and you are toasting chestnuts by it then you will not regret having spent that little bit of extra time in the preparation.

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Traditionally the inset open grate fire is what most people think of when they talk about solid fuel fires. A simple fire built on a free standing cast iron grate set back into a 16 or 18 inch clay back. This fire is suitable to be used in conjunction with a natural stone fireplace surround. But it is not suitable for use with reconstituted stone, reconstituted marble, resin or fiberglass fires. Always check with the dealer from where you buy the surround if it is suitable for solid fuel. In addition if you are burning your solid fuel fire in a register grate like the Merrion cast shown in the William IV marble fireplace (above right) or in a cast iron basket like the Nexus Basket (below right) Then do not choose a polished finish. The heat that is generated by solid fuel fires can tarnish the polish very quickly and it will not be able to be restored.

The fire basket is a very popular choice for inglenook fireplaces and those who want to have a chamber style fireplace. The fire basket sits recessed into and directly below the chimney. This has the unavoidable problem of dramatic heat loss. Most of the heat is lost directly up the chimney rather than be deflected into the room as is the case with a standard inset fire or register grate. However the aesthetics of a chamber fire can often outweigh this heat loss especially if you have central heating as your primary heat source. The other option of course is to build a large fire as in the case here. However make sure that your chimney is in an excellent state of repair has recently been swept and that your basket is a strong cast iron type that fully encloses the fuel as in this picture It is not advisable to make your fire burn this fiercely for long periods of time!.

The Solid Fuel Stove: MultiFuel or Wood Burning. The Solid fuel stove is a very popular and very traditional form of heating. The stove once lit can keep a kettle on the boil and it can generate huge amounts of heat to warm even the coldest of rooms. Stoves vary greatly in design as well as price. And the styles range from very traditional through to quite contemporary. The size of the stove will determine the heat output of the unit. The bigger you go the greater the heat output. Some stoves come complete with back boilers to connect directly to your central heating system. And once lit will provide piping hot water for you.