Fires Echo Retro Styling

Smeg says its range of 100% efficient flueless natural gas and LPG fires are the perfect extenstion to the Smeg range of design-led appliances.

Offering innovation that complements consumer lifestyles, the flueless fires are an 'eco-friendly' heating solution designed to be wall ahnging as well as suitable for living rooms, offices and kitchens.

Smeg adds "The L30FAB's soft curves and bold colours echo retro styling while the L23LIN encorporates sleek and elegant lines, consisten with Smeg's Linea series with the P23Cl ompleting the fire range by offering a Classic."

Manufacturer Focus: Burley

Burley Appliances were established after John Barson decided that after a twenty year career with two large electrical appliance manufacturers that it was time to strike out on his own. At this time, in 1975 Burley Appliances consisted of John Barson and just a few electrical components.
With just £5 in 1975 (the equivalent of £27.85 today) John Barson commisionned his first three wrought iron-basket designs. It took him all day to assemble his first electric fire. The very next day he drove to Leicester with his newly completed fire and sold it, things looked promising but production would need to increase to save himself and his family from starvation!

The first of several turning points came when John visited the electrical buyer at Harrods. Returning with an order for 12 fires, from here there was no looking back. John took on his first employee and found a bigger garage. John’s son and daughter, after leaving school, also joined the Company.

The major breakthrough came in 1981 when Burley became an approved supplier to the Northwest Electricity board and within 3 years supplied around 900 outlets of all the UK electricity boards.

The next major development was when Burley produced the Empingham model, this electric was the first electric fire that could be freestanding or inset and is still on sale today! HERE
Throughout the 1990's Burley continued to expand, highlighted in 1998 when they introduced the UK's first flueless gas fire.

This expansion continued into the 21st Century with Burley aquiring Straxgas, Navitron and Magiglo brands and with John's son Steve succeeding his father as managing director in 2002 the company has gone from strength to strength.

You can find the full range of high-quality Burley Appliances on Fireplace Supermarket

The Burley Perception

Burley have recently unveiled another high-quality flueless gas fire, adding to their existing range of popular flueless models such as the Ambience, Environ and Acumen.
The new flueless gas fire has been unveiled as the Burley Fires Perception Catalytic Flueless Gas Fire, this new model adds even more choice for the unlucky few without a chimney or flue.

The Perception features a solid cast iron front, giving a feel of quality that can sometimes be lacking on other inset fires using a slightly flimsy trim on the exterior. The Perception follows in the line of quality Burley products, with the company going from strength to strength since starting in 1975 and now sells it's products all over the world!

The contemporary design of this fire is available in Black, Brass and Silver to suite most interior design, the contemporary fret also breaks tradition from the very conventional frets found on many other fires and offers smooth curves that soften the appearance of the fire and help the fire fit in with its surroundings.

Available in both manual and remote control options this Burley fire boasts 100% efficiency and a 2.5kW heat output, making it an ideal compliment to existing heating systems. The fire also boasts the added flexibility of being able to be both inset and outset using the additional spacer, also available is the cavity wall box for when the fire is inset, this helps keep all the heat from the fire in the room instead of letting some of the heat rise up inside the brick cavity and possibly cause damage to the internal structures.

As this Burley flueless gas fire does not rely on a chimney, it provides an unsurpassed level of safety to which a conventionally flued fire could only dream of! Flues and chimneys can become blocked or badly affected affected by down-draughts. Burley flueless gas fires are designed to burn the gas extremely cleanly without a flue. The burnt gases are then passed through a catalytic converter, very similar to the one of the average car! Every Burley flueless gas fire has an oxygen depletion sensor which constantly monitors the air quality in the room. If the level of oxygen drops by just 1.5%, the fire automatically shuts down. Burley’s production method is unique. Every flueless gas fire ever made by Burley has been test run for 30 minutes, during which numerous combustion and safety tests.

Ethanol Fireplaces Vs Catalytic and Balanced Flue

Gel fires are quite new in the UK, we have tested a few of them. They are nice products with a big flame however we all feel they are more suited to outdoor useages, the reason being is the ethanol can create a slight odor when burning. Its not that noticiable but depends how sesitive your nose is. Secondly it is a bit messing around to fill it up everytime you wan’t to use it. The maximum the tank will last for is around 2.5 hours. 

As far as cost wise, Ethanol is cheaper however, it is more expensive to package and transport while LPG has the benefit of econmies of scale selling thousands of tanks a day. In the end an gel fire will be 100% efficient, so all fuel turns into heat, while there are high efficinent LPG models out there it will not be 100% unless your going flueless catalytic. I’d say the amount that would be saved by using a gel fire would certainly be taken in time spent filling it up and disposing of the bottles.

there are many ways to increase your efficiency;

1 Catalytic Flueless gas fire (100%)

2 Balanced Flue Gas fires (circa 89%) [with extra large heat outputs avaiable on selected models]

3 High Efficiency Glass Fronted fires (circa 89%) 

Rumours About Flueless Gas Fires

I've heard large amounts of feedback from colleagues working in the industry that they are repeatedly hearing back from customers saying that they can't find a fitter to install their shiny new flueless gas fire.
A number of excuses have been passed on from fitters and there have been rumours regarding flueless gas fires, a number are addressed below and can hopefully straigten a few facts out.
1) Carbon Monoxide Poisioning.
One of the main rumours that I have heard regarding flueless gas fires is the risk of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. This is a risk with any gas fire and is slightly more likely to occur in a conventionally flued fireplace rather than a flueless gas fire. Conventionally flued gas fires rely on a flue that can become blocked with debris or even a birds nest that could fall down the chimney pot. With Flueless Gas Fires that have been correctly fitted by a GasSafe registered engineer and serviced annually as suggest by all fire manufacturers then ther should not be a problem with any flueless gas fire/stove, Esse even offer a 10 year catalytic converter guarentee! Flueless gas fires, if fitted and maintained correctly are inherently safe and this is one of the reasons, along with their impressive reliability and longevity, they are the only type of fires that are available in Tokyo, Austailia and many U.S states.

2)Decorative Only, Dont Give Out Heat
Tests show that flueless catalytic gas fires produce over 3 times more heat per kilowatt input than conventional flued or vented gas fires, and over 12 times more heat than most decorative, open gas fires, both of which tend to lose more than 75% of the heat of the chimney. This means than three quarters of your heat energy isn't actually heating your room, it's contributing to global warming!

3)Requires Drafty Air Brick Ventilation.

This rumour is a common misconception of the ventilation required for a flueless gas fire. Although they do require ventilation in the room but this ventilation only needs to allow a free passage of air of 100cm2, although this sounds a lot the total size of the air vent can be as little as two post-it notes stuck side by side and when situated in a sheltered area, normally across the room from where the flueless fire is situated then any drafts should be minimised, these would normally be less than what you would experience with a conventional or powered flue gas fire as the ventilation area is considerably smaller than the size of a chimney or powered flue opening.

4) Smell

There are some rumours running around the internet that Flueless gas fires give off an odour when in use. When first used then ALL gas fires, whether flueless, balanced flue conventional flue or stove will emit some odour as the fire is first used, this is caused by the setting and curing of any heat resistant paint or adhesives used in the construction of the fire and are typically non-toxic and harmless and after a couple of hours on full will be gone for the life of the fire.

As for Flueless gas fires, they only emit Carbon Dioxide and Water vapour as products of combustion, neither of these gases have any odour so a flueless gas fire should not give off any odour.

Acquisitions X-Fire Widescreen Catalytic Flueless Gas Fire

Acquisitions X-Fire Widescreen Catalytic Flueless Gas Fire is a glass fronted catalytic flueless gas fire available from Acquisitions and is the answer to anyone looking for a hang on the wall gas fire in their living space, but without the luxury of a chimney or an external wall.

The X-Fire uses state of the art catalytic converter technology to convert the harmful exhaust gases into Carbon Dioxide and Water Vapour. This means that providing the room has a volume of at least 40m3 and some sort of ventilation of at least 100cm2 then this fire can be situated in almost any room of the household.

The 3.5kW of heat output and 100% efficiency mean that no energy is wasted when heating the room, meaning the temperature of the room is raised higher and quicker than with a conventional sub-50% open gas fire or even a 2kW FAN-ASSISTED electric heater, with a 3.5kW gas fire able to raise the temperature in a room a noticable 5*C in under 20 minutes, this temperature increase would be difficult to achieve with any other type of fire, with a 6kW conventionally flued fire taking up to an hour to raise the temperature by the same amount.

The Acquisitions X-Fire Widescreen is available in Limestone, Granite or a Mirrored finish, (An X-Fire with the Granite finish is currently on display and fully working at The Fireplace Megastore Showroom.

The Black Granite finish combines with the black back to really draw attention to the bright orange flames of the fire, and using Acquisitions unique RX3 Reflexion Flame that makes the flame effect and firebox appear deeper than they really are, reducing weight and allowing the freedom to hang the fire on almost any wall.

The individuality of the natural granite or limestone means no X-fire is ever the same, with the natural limestone prone to fossils and natural inclusions from the stone being formed over millions of years! The rich dark depth of the natural granite and RX3 RefleXion Flame create a very deep and contemporary fireplace while the uniqueness of the limestone and the fact that it is literally a one of a kind fire make this fire a must in any contemporary living space.

Burley Ambeince 4121 Flueless Gas Stove

This very traditionally styled stove is the Burley Ambience 4121 Flueless Gas Stove, although traditional in appearance, this stove is by no means traditional in terms of technology. The Burley Ambience utilises catalytic converter technology to eliminate the need for a sometimes costly drafty chimney or expensive balanced flue kit. The catalytic converter in the Burley Ambience causes a chemical reaction in the harmful exhaust gases and converts them into simply Carbon Dioxide and Water Vapor.The only downside to this is that the room must be at least 40m3 with additional ventilation of at least 100cm2.
The traditionally designed, cast iron effect exterior cleverly disguises the technical components required to make a gas fire flueless, while at the same time offering a freestanding and aesthetically pleasing stove that would look great sat on a hearth in a fireplace or as a focal point of the room.
Offering a generous 3.5kw and with no flue or chimney to draw the heat out of the room means that the 100% efficiency of the fire is really put to use when heating the room, this well illustrated in this graph, a 2.5kW flueless gas fire is able to heat up a room far quicker than a conventionally flued appliance and even moreso than the decorative gas basket fires. This means that investing in a flueless gas fire becomes an even more attractive option. Higher efficiency means less gas is burnt to give off the heat and no flue heat loss means that, again, less gas is used to bring the room up to the desired temperature, a double saving!

The realistic log fuel effect provides an impressive illustion that the Burley Ambience is a real wood burning stove but without a flue. The Burley Ambience 4121 Flueless gas stove is available in both LPG and Natural Gas for maximum suitability for almost any household.

Overall the Burley Ambience is a top-quality gas stove that utilises the best of modern technology to create a gas stove that is both traditional in appearance and cutting edge in perfomance and a must for anyone considering a stove without the luxury of a flue or chimney.

Burley Fires

Burley Appliances produce a large range of excellent fires, they take pride in the quality of their Flueless gas fires and stoves. These fires and stoves boast 100% efficiency and at the time of this blog have saved Burley Customers 151, 882, 103.4 KWH of gas due to the high efficiency rating of the fire over more traditional fires and stoves.

Burley Fires produce a large range of gas and electric fires in both contemporary and traditional styling. The gas fires all feature a catalytic converter system that means no Burley Fire requires a chimney or flue, merely a vent in the room and a minimum room size. While the electric fires feature a realistic virtual flame effect and some fires feature a remote control as standard.

Burley introducted the fixed, flueless gas fire to Great Britain in 1999. Although these types of fires are still a relatively new concept into the UK, there are over 60 million of this type of catalytic gas fire in the US, Japan and Austrailia combined. Burley flueless gas fires offer a level of efficiency, convienience and safety which simply cannot be matched by conventionally flued fires.

We have entered an time of spiralling gas prices, gas shortages, economic instability and global warming. It would be short-sighted and unsustainable to continue wasting energy at such a rate when Burley offer an alternative product which is superior to flued fires in a number of ways.

The Burley Ambience is a great example of the quality flueless gas fires that Burley produce, this traditionally styled gas stove features a realistic log fuel effect and provides an impressive 3.5kW heat output, which is more than enough to heat the minimum room space of 40m3, as this is a flueless gas stove it does require ventilation somewhere in the room of at least 100cm2.

The Burley Ambience is available in both natural gas and LPG with a cast iron effect finish with 100% efficiency and would make a perfect focal point in a large open fireplace to give a traditional and rustic finish.

The Burley Allexton 520-R Electric fire, which is available for The Fireplace Megastore, is the ideal contemporary solution to those wishing for a hang-on-the-wall, picture frame electric fire. The Allexton 520-R is an open fronted electric fire with a pebble, shell and white stone fuel effect and realistic virtual flame effect and, as the R suggests in the name of the fire the Burley Allexton 520-R comes as standard with a remote control.

The Allexton, unlike most other electric fires which use a noisy fan than blows hot air and dust around the room, sometimes causing havoc with allergy sufferers. The Allexton features an integral ioniser that releases negative ions that actually remove dust and odours from the air, making the air fresher in the living space while The 1 or 2kW heat output also provides the ideal level of heat for a generous sized living room.

Last, but not least the Burley Weston is a free-standing, cast iron effect electric stove with a very realistic virtual flame effect and log effect that would help make the Weston a special little addition to any living room for that rustic feel. The Weston can be upgraded with a Sensa-Switch, this unique feature on certain Burley Fires means the stove can be controlled by a simple touch of a finger on the ergonomic touch pad. This eliminates the need for playing with fiddely buttons or switches.

The Burley Weston features a 1 or 2Kw electric fan heater mounted under the stove that will help circulate the heat effectively around the room and quickly take the cold edge off a room.

Esse 525 Catalytic Flueless Gas Stove

The Esse 525 Catalytic Flueless stove brings the extraordinary benefits of catalytic technology to contemporary living spaces. This log effect gas stove does not require a flue giving you the freedom to locate it virtually anywhere. Ideal to create a stunning focal point in the room based around this ultra-modern and sleek flueless stove, while the 3.3kW heat output is ideal to complement existing heating. The Esse 525 completely breaks the stereotype of a stove featuring a large viewing window and brushed stainless steel legs to accentuate the fire and really draw attention to the flames.

By using the latest catalytic technology all burnt gas emissions are converted into clean Carbon Dioxide and Water. In addition to ease of location, catalytic technology also offers 100% efficiency. No energy is wasted, so all the heat generated warms your room which in turn lowers running costs.

A catalytic converter is not only eco-friendly, it can actually clean the air it uses. The high temperature of the catalytic process helps to remove odours in the home and neutralise airborne particles such as dust mites, creating a cleaner, healthier environment.
The Esse 525 stove stands solidly on 2” full height stainless steel legs culminating at a steel top with a high quality anthracite finish that has been laser cut to follow the curves of the the stainless steel legs. The result is a clean contemporary look with a softer edge and uncluttered view of the stunning log effect.

Esse Firewall Flueless Gas Fire

The Esse Firewall is a designer range of flueless gas wall hung fires that are available in 41 and 48 inch widescreen versions. These fires feature catalytic converter technology that allows the fire to achieve 100% efficiency, only giving out Carbon Dioxide and Water vapour. These cutting edge fires feature a 10 year catalytic converter guarentee and are not susceptible to flue blockages or downdraughts which are problems for conventional flued appliances. These problems can cause the build up of dangerous Carbon Monoxide if not checked on a regular basis.

The Esse Firewall range are available in an ultra stylish black glass finish with a realisitic dancing flame effect. The 41 inch widescreen version provides 2600w of heat and the 48 inch widescreen version has a heat output of of 3.5kW, both bring warmth and style to any wall and can be located anywhere there is a gas supply.

A must for any contemporary living space with the stylish black glass finish and optional remote control allowing for easy operation of the fire from anywhere in the room. The Firewall Widescreen is easily mounted on most internal walls allowing for use as a unique and eye-catching focal point in kitchen, study or games room.

Burley Fires Environ 4247 Flueless Gas Fire

The Burley Fires Environ 4247 Flueless Gas Fire is the perfect solution for those wishing for a contemporary inset gas fire but without the luxury of an external wall or an existing chimney or flue. The catalytic flueless technology that is becoming increasingly popular in the UK thanks to 100% efficiency and low running costs only emits Carbon Dioxide and Water Vapour, eliminating the need for a flue. Catalytic style fires are the fastest selling type in Japan and are popular all over the world and due to their high safety specifications are the only type of fire used in several US states and Austrailia.

The Burley Fires Environ 4247 puts all this modern technology into a into a modern contemporary inset style with a brushed steel frame and pebble fuel effect, A choice of either black or cream fireback and optional remote control are also available allowing the traditional fireplace with surround and mantle to still feature in the modern living room without the need for to build a costly chimney or knock through an outside wall for a balanced flue fire and the 2.5kW heat rating means that this fire is not just for decoration but also provides heat to take the cold edge off a room.

The modern contemporary brushed steel finish would look great with the Europa Washington Wooden Fireplace Surround with the black granite back and hearth contrasting with the brushed steel frame and highlighting the fire in the centre while the Natural Oak finish frames the fire nicely to create a contemporary yet traditional effect focal point in the living room.

Acquisitions X-Fire Widescreen Catalytic Flueless Gas Fire

The Acquisitions X-Fire Widescreen Catalytic Flueless Gas Fire would be the ideal solution for someone looking for real dancing flames and stunning modern design but without the luxury of a chimney, flue or exterior wall.
The Acquisitions X-Fire provides safe, flueless technology for installation in flats, apartments or any home where a fireplace was previously not an option - or even in rooms not typically thought possible, such as home cinema or kitchen environments thanks to Acquisitions' unique catalytic combustion and RX3 Reflexion technology, Although it must be known that this fire cannot be installed in a bedroom or bathroom.

This stunning contemporary fire is 100% efficient, eco-friendly with lower running costs and emissions than traditional fires and is available running on both Natural Gas and LPG.

The Acquisitions X-Fire can feature a bold black granite, traditional limestone or futuristic mirrored frame which would look great in any modern room in the house.

The black granite provides a stark contrast to the bright dancing flames and when combined with a lighter neutral coloured wall would really frame the fire and project the heat and glow from the fire into the room.

High Efficiency Catalytic Flueless Gas fires

The main question being asked is ‘How do Catalytic Flueless gas fires work?’ This is easy to answer difficult to understand– Catalytic flueless gas fires work by having a sealed flame behind glass which forces the fumes to rise up through the fire and into a catalytic converter. The catalytic converter is a honeycomb membrane which is impregnated with a catalyst chemical put simply this is a noble metal which speeds up reactions and allows modification of molecules into others with less energy. Any harmful chemicals are turned into CO2 which is completely harmless in the proportions of a room. It can also be so effective that it will also aid in cleaning out allergens in the air from your room as well as providing heat.

A lot of people and gas fitters are still wrongly cautions about catalytic gas fires and this is all to do with a very successful internal marketing campaign by British Gas after they lost the license to produce the engine from Lexus of America who own the technology patent. British Gas completed a full campaign and disallowed all fitters to install the fires as they owned a couple of fire manufactures including Matchless Fires who also wanted to produce flueless fires, knowing their market value and long term benefits. This was a Marketing marvel which has not yet subsided, this has caused a slower take up in the UK of Flueless models, but throughout the world they are the only fire which can be used in several states in America, Australia and are the largest selling fire in Japan, due to the size of homes and lack of flues.

From a safety point British Gas were wrong to stop their installers from fitting the products, like most gas fires, they are installed with an Oxygen depletion sensor, which measures the ratio of oxygen in the air and cuts the fire off should it fall below a safe limit (limited to a 1.5% difference from average oxygen content) they also have a Flame supervision device which shuts the gas off should the flame itself go out. They also have several safety benefits over conventional flue fires as the flues in these products can be susceptible to blockages or downdrafts which increase carbon monoxide into the home if not monitored and serviced on a yearly basis. They are so safe they have even been signed off to allow use in bedrooms and bathrooms, if you have a budget enough to create a high spec space then these are certainly the cherry on the metaphorical home cake.

All Flueless fires are designed as a supplement to your primary heating source, as burning Natural Gas produces a wet flame due to one of the products of combustion the primary heating will make certain that there is no condensation. Catalysts have been thoroughly tested and have a lifespan extending beyond 16,957 hours!!! This is equivalent to about 27 years average use (4 hours a day, 5 months of the year)!! The Catalyst also has a constant effectiveness; it is as good on day one as it is 6000 hours of use later.

Flueless fires over the years have won several awards most recently the House Beautiful Award in 2008 where a gold medal was awarded. Efficiency of Catalytic Flueless Gas Fires is set at a fixed 100% as these items require no flue to vent flue any gases stopping the availability draw up the flue. The only downfall of Catalytic flueless gas fires is that they require an Air vent in the room, although most home do have these, if you are not used to one.

A range of high efficiency flueless gas fires are available to purchase at a low price from the Fireplace Supermarket

Note: information correct as of January 2010 information provided from Advantica Technologies Limited for the Health and Safety Executive 2004 and also the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center.