Gel fires
 

Or rather gel fireplaces. Anyone any experience of these?

Saw one on property ladder this week. Looked a suitable solution for
those without gas and flue. Also looked realistic. Any comments?
--
Matthew Barnard

"Matthew Barnard" wrote in message
...
Or rather gel fireplaces. Anyone any experience of these?

Saw one on property ladder this week. Looked a suitable solution for those
without gas and flue. Also looked realistic. Any comments?

What's a gel fireplace?

Mary

--
Matthew Barnard

Mary Fisher wrote:

What's a gel fireplace?

You know those gel cadles you get? Think that scaled up to room size.

They're fine, but they still chuck out a fair bit of moisture into the air.

--
Grunff

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:

What's a gel fireplace?

You know those gel cadles you get? Think that scaled up to room size.

Good Lord!

They're fine, but they still chuck out a fair bit of moisture into the
air.

I bet.

I should get out more often ...

Mary

--
Grunff

Mary Fisher wrote:

What's a gel fireplace?

You know those gel cadles you get? Think that scaled up to room size.

Good Lord!

Really - how bizarre!? I must say I had never heard of them either until
that programme.

a wrote:

Really - how bizarre!? I must say I had never heard of them either until
that programme.

I've only ever seen them in showrooms and on TV. Seem like a very silly
idea to me.


--
Grunff

In message , a
writes
Mary Fisher wrote:

What's a gel fireplace?

You know those gel cadles you get? Think that scaled up to room size.

Good Lord!

Really - how bizarre!? I must say I had never heard of them either until
that programme.


Basically what you had was 3 big gel candles underneath fake coals/logs
etc. in a fireplace. light the candles and flames flicker up through he
coals. No need for a flue of course
--
Chris French, Leeds

chris French wrote:

Basically what you had was 3 big gel candles underneath fake coals/logs
etc. in a fireplace. light the candles and flames flicker up through he
coals. No need for a flue of course

One Christmas I burned a large decorative candle over the
holiday. Afterwards I discovered to my horror that the entire
room had a permanent and irremovable layer of soot over its upper
half. Can't help but fear the same would happen here, or was I
just unlucky?

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 05:32:37 GMT, Chris J Dixon
wrote:

chris French wrote:

Basically what you had was 3 big gel candles underneath fake coals/logs
etc. in a fireplace. light the candles and flames flicker up through he
coals. No need for a flue of course

One Christmas I burned a large decorative candle over the
holiday. Afterwards I discovered to my horror that the entire
room had a permanent and irremovable layer of soot over its upper
half. Can't help but fear the same would happen here, or was I
just unlucky?


I sort of assume that since they're intended to be burnt over long
periods that they won't leave a residue on the walls etc. but I've no
personal experience. Then again, the same applies to candles so what
do I know :-)

I've seen these gel candles at various shows and they do look very
nice, my only concern was that they seemed very pricey (can't remember
exactly how much, ~£40 per 8 hours seems to spring to mind,but I'm not
sure if that was each or for all three) although I assume you can find
them cheaper at places other than posh shows/showrooms.

Still, if you want the look of real flame and have no flue then
they're a lot better than any of the gas/electric flame effect fires
I've seen,

Cheers,

John

"Chris J Dixon" wrote in message
...
chris French wrote:

Basically what you had was 3 big gel candles underneath fake coals/logs
etc. in a fireplace. light the candles and flames flicker up through he
coals. No need for a flue of course

One Christmas I burned a large decorative candle over the
holiday. Afterwards I discovered to my horror that the entire
room had a permanent and irremovable layer of soot over its upper
half. Can't help but fear the same would happen here, or was I
just unlucky?

The candle was either in a draught or was 'over-wicked' - that is the wick
was too arge for the diameter of the candle.

Decorative candles aren't usually good candles in that there's almost always
a problem with the burning but usually they're under-wicked and either
gutter (dribble) or drown.

Mary

Chris
--

"chris French" wrote in message
...
In message , a
writes
Mary Fisher wrote:

What's a gel fireplace?

You know those gel cadles you get? Think that scaled up to room size.

Good Lord!

Really - how bizarre!? I must say I had never heard of them either until
that programme.


Basically what you had was 3 big gel candles underneath fake coals/logs
etc. in a fireplace. light the candles and flames flicker up through he
coals. No need for a flue of course

But doesn't the gel burn away and have to be replaced?

Mary
--
Chris French, Leeds

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
et...

"chris French" wrote in message
...
In message , a
writes
Mary Fisher wrote:

What's a gel fireplace?

You know those gel cadles you get? Think that scaled up to room
size.

Good Lord!

Really - how bizarre!? I must say I had never heard of them either until
that programme.


Basically what you had was 3 big gel candles underneath fake coals/logs
etc. in a fireplace. light the candles and flames flicker up through he
coals. No need for a flue of course

But doesn't the gel burn away ....
Yes!

and have to be replaced?

and expensively !

My wife and I are in the data-gathering phase of
"doing" the lounge. Extra power-outlets, data-cabling,
new carpet ... and a fire place . We've looked at gas fires,
electric fires and the gel-fires under discussion.
A fireplace retailer confessed that he'd installed one
in his own house; once he'd exhausted the box of
candles that 'came with the purchase' he'd never
bought another box ... his hand trembled every time he
went to light one ... £5 / hr ?

--

Brian

"Brian Sharrock" wrote in message
...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
et...

"chris French" wrote in message
...
In message , a
writes
Mary Fisher wrote:

What's a gel fireplace?

You know those gel cadles you get? Think that scaled up to room
size.

Good Lord!

Really - how bizarre!? I must say I had never heard of them either
until
that programme.


Basically what you had was 3 big gel candles underneath fake
coals/logs
etc. in a fireplace. light the candles and flames flicker up through he
coals. No need for a flue of course

But doesn't the gel burn away ....
Yes!

and have to be replaced?

and expensively !

My wife and I are in the data-gathering phase of
"doing" the lounge. Extra power-outlets, data-cabling,
new carpet ... and a fire place . We've looked at gas fires,
electric fires and the gel-fires under discussion.
A fireplace retailer confessed that he'd installed one
in his own house; once he'd exhausted the box of
candles that 'came with the purchase' he'd never
bought another box ... his hand trembled every time he
went to light one ... £5 / hr ?

Well, we weren't thinking of doing anything but thatnks for the norful
warning!

Mary

--

Brian

Mary Fisher wrote:

The candle was either in a draught or was 'over-wicked' - that is the wick
was too arge for the diameter of the candle.

Decorative candles aren't usually good candles in that there's almost always
a problem with the burning but usually they're under-wicked and either
gutter (dribble) or drown.

It was a cheap one from IKEA, about 50 mm dia, not in a draught,
so it must have been the wick.

I reckon that the big 150 mm square one with 4 wicks had better
stay as purely decorative ;-)

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

bought another box ... his hand trembled every time he
went to light one ... £5 / hr ?



according to http://www.gelfireplaces.com they'll cost around £6 per
night (3 cans)... but how long is a "night" ?

I suppose it depends on the usage of the fire, because we have CH ours
(gas) is for decorative purposes mostly and gets about 5 hours use a
year tops

LJ

We've looked at gas fires, electric fires and the gel-fires under
discussion.

Why muck around with fakes. If I was installing a fireplace, it would be
solid fuel. End of story!

I haven't yet got round to converting our fireplaces from gas to solid fuel.
They'd need the flue checking/sweeping and the backs and hearth checked. It
would be nice on a winter's evening, though. The only problem is that the
room in question shares a heating zone with the front room, which would go
cold as the room thermostat is in the lounge. I suppose we could always
restore the fireplace in the front room, too...

Christian.

On 15 Oct 2004, Christian McArdle wrote

We've looked at gas fires, electric fires and the gel-fires under
discussion.

Why muck around with fakes. If I was installing a fireplace, it
would be solid fuel. End of story!

I haven't yet got round to converting our fireplaces from gas to
solid fuel. They'd need the flue checking/sweeping and the backs
and hearth checked. It would be nice on a winter's evening,
though. The only problem is that the room in question shares a
heating zone with the front room, which would go cold as the room
thermostat is in the lounge. I suppose we could always restore the
fireplace in the front room, too...

....or move the thermostat to a more neutral location?

--
Cheers,
Harvey

...or move the thermostat to a more neutral location?

Nah. Given that 363 days of the year this room would be centrally heated and
the most occupied room, I'd rather have the tight temperature control in
that room. The front room is the only other room in the zone and is unlikely
to be occupied simultaneously when we've got a actual real fire in the other
room as bait.

Christian.

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
. net...
...or move the thermostat to a more neutral location?

Nah. Given that 363 days of the year this room would be centrally heated

363 days a year???

Heavens, where do you live?

Our north facing sitting room in Leeds doesn't need heating until winter and
it's not the most occupied room so doesn't have the benefit of body heat. .

Mary

363 days a year???

Heavens, where do you live?

Greenland.

Well maybe not, but the programmable thermostat might not actually call for
heat for many of them. Perhaps I should have said that we'd only use the
solid fuel fireplace a couple of times a year, on special occasions.

Christian.

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 14:29:51 +0100, Christian McArdle wrote:

...or move the thermostat to a more neutral location?

Nah. Given that 363 days of the year this room would be centrally
heated and the most occupied room, I'd rather have the tight
temperature control in that room.

So get an wireless stat and move it as required.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
. net...
363 days a year???

Heavens, where do you live?

Greenland.

Well maybe not, but the programmable thermostat might not actually call
for
heat for many of them. Perhaps I should have said that we'd only use the
solid fuel fireplace a couple of times a year, on special occasions.

Right! Thanks. I know we're fairly spartan but I don't know anyone who could
stand heating for 363 days a year!

Mary

Christian.

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
et...

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:

What's a gel fireplace?

You know those gel cadles you get? Think that scaled up to room size.

Good Lord!

They're fine, but they still chuck out a fair bit of moisture into the
air.

I bet.

I should get out more often ...

No, you can stay in Mary, but you need to get a telly...!

David (ducking for cover)