Gas Fire to Real Fire

mkdon05

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this.
We have a fire place that is set up for a gas fire. We wanted to cut this off and switch to an open fire. I believe that not all fire places can sustain a real fire, but my question is, how can i tell if it would be suitable??
The house is about 9/10 years old and it never had any sort of fire in the fireplace, just a gas pipe sticking out from it.

Any ideas???

RKQ

Is there a lined chimney?
If so push up some sweep sticks to ensure its not blocked.

A proper chimney can be reused as an open fire. Why not post a photo of the ope in the room.

mkdon05

there is a chimney, im not sure what you mean by 'lined'.
Does in not need a certain concrete so it wont crack?
cheers

No6

Not very energy efficient mkdon, in a few years we will no longer have open fires in new houses, but having siad that you can't beat a real fire or small solid fuel room stove. If you have a standard chimney with an open flue of 200mm dia you should be ok. As RKQ says put some brushes up the flue see if they come out at the chimney pot, if so you should be ok. Have a professional look at it though to be 100% sure.

mkdon05

Yea, I'd probably just go with a gas fire but the missus wants the real one.
Had also contemplated a stove but there a bit pricey for us at the minute.
Who would you get to look at it?? A Gas company??

Moanin

mkdon05 wrote: »

Yea, I'd probably just go with a gas fire but the missus wants the real one.
Had also contemplated a stove but there a bit pricey for us at the minute.
Who would you get to look at it?? A Gas company??

I had mine replaced over a year ago now from gas to natural open fire. I got a registered gas technician to cut off the gas supply going into the fireplace. There was a litle socket at the side of the fireplace and he did something to that to cut off the supply. I then had to get a builder in to insert a concrete insert as the one that was there was a kind or foam one for the gas fire. There's no comparison I think as the natural fire throws out more heat. Some people say that they are very dirty. Ok it is but not very much. I clean out the ashes twice a week if I have the fire lit every night. Hope that helps you a bit.....

Tenshot

You might also check the hearth in front of the fireplace. If it's made from a single piece of stone, there's a good chance it will crack when exposed to the increased heat from a real fire.

(I was shopping for fireplaces this weekend, and was informed of the above by a sales guy. Had never heard it before, but a friend confirmed it to me independently later on -- for what it's worth.)