Ekofires 5050 flueless gas fireAlthough Flueless fires are relatively new to the UK, they have been popular in other parts of the world for many years, especially Japan (approx 40 million in use), the USA (approx 20 million in use) and Australia. Flueless gas fires, requiring no chimney or flue system, offer a unique combination of efficiency, flexibility and safety.
No Heat Loss
Much of the heat from a conventional flued gas fire is lost straight up the chimney. Even the latest generation of high efficiency flued gas fires lose some heat in this way. In comparison, 100% of the heat from a flueless gas fire goes towards heating the room. Burley, one of the largest UK manufacturers of flueless gas fires, commissioned tests comparing the performance of a 2.5kW Burley Environ flueless gas fire with a typical 6kW inset flued gas fire and a decorative flued gas fire. They found that the flueless gas fire gave out over 3 times as much heat per kilowatt as the flued gas fire and over 12 times as much heat per kilowatt as the decorative flued gas fire. This is because the flued gas fire lost more than 70% of its heat up the chimney, and the decorative gas fire lost over 90% of its heat up the chimney.
Safety
Flueless gas fires burn gas extremely cleanly and efficiently. They then pass the burned gases through a catalytic converter to further clean the emissions. The catalytic converter converts any carbon monoxide to harmless carbon dioxide, which can be safely released into the room. Flueless gas fires constantly monitor the oxygen levels in the room. If the oxygen level drops even a little below normal a safety device is activated and the fire will switch itself off.
Flexibility
Flueless gas fires are generally very easy to install. If the fire is going in an open chimney then the flue must be blocked off, but other than that the fitter simply has to connect and test the fire and install the air vent. The time and costs for fitting are usually far lower than for flued gas fires. Flueless gas fires are available in a wide range of styles, from traditional gas fires to modern gas fires, from wall fires to inset fires.