On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:41:29 -0800, micks_address wrote:

Hi Folks,

We currently have a gas fire in our living room, its an imitation with
life like coals etc. We never really use it and have a great fondness
for our parents open fires at home. They of course live on a farm and
have access to turf and wood and such. We are now thinking about
replacing the gas fire with either a stove or just an open fire grate.
The stove we're looking at is a waterford stanley as seen he

http://www.waterfordstanley.com/stanley_stv/oisin.htm

snip

We have just ordered a Stovax Stockton 4 from http://www.firesonline.com

I would post a proper URL but their web site seems to kill my Firefox
browse under Linux.

http://www.firesonline.com/acatalog/...ulti_fuel.html

There you go - just tried the Epiphany browser instead.

My brother-in-law is a solid fuel stove installer (part time) and he has a
slightly larger version, the Stockton 6.

He reckons they are about the best value currently in 'bangs per buck'.

We are paying just over £400 including VAT and delivery which seems a
good price.

The steel stoves are not as pretty as the enamelled cast iron ones but
allegedly less likely to warp if they get a little too hot.

To fully heat our 20' lounge plus 8' extension calculates at 6Kw (Stockton
6 at around £500) but we are having the stove for pleasure instead of the
main source of heating so can't justify the extra £90.

We have had an open fire box (similar to the one described here) in two
other houses and they are great fun; a roaring fire with logs is a
wonderful experience, and will heat a large room. Much more efficient that
an open grate where all the heat goes up the chimney.

By no means as efficient as a stove, and not easy to keep in over night,
but much more of the pleasure when it is going full blast.

On the other hand, you can slow cook stuff on top of the stove in a small
casserole if you fancy that sort of thing.

Open fires should not be an issue with children as long as reasonable
precautions are taken (central heating is only a recent introduction).
Stoves may seem less obviously threatening than open fires so a guard
around them may be appropriate.

So: if you are looking for the most efficient heat source, get a stove; if
you are looking for the most warming of the cockles of the heart on a cold
winter's evening get a firebox.

There are some larger stoves which are a combination; an open fire when
the double doors are swung back, and a stove when the doors are closed.

The ones I have seen are expensive, need a large fire opening, and are
probably not as efficient as the modern stoves with their double air wash
systems. However they do seem a nice compromise between fire and stove.

HTH

Dave R