Ethanol fireplaces

Been suggested these might make quite a nice feature and give off a little “top-up” heat.

Anyone used one? Got one?

I used one in an Airbnb once. It was quite large and burned a lot of fluid quickly, but ultimately was completely ineffective 

🤣🤣🤣 quite a damning review…

We have had one in our conservatory for a year

I really rate it, takes about 30-40 minutes to heat the room up and has made it a useable room all year round as well as looking good

cost £800 instead of £6k to install a log burner, it’s not as warm as a log burner but much cleaner and just as effective as the electric radiator we have in there and no longer use. Could also take it outside and use in the garden at summer time although we since bought a cheap tabletop burner for outside

buy fuel in bulk from Amazon, 1litre lasts about 4 – 5 hours, probably cheaper ways to heat the space but it’s equally about the look

got it from imaginfires.co.uk, I think they have the best fuel box system

ours is the Howarth (costs £1k now) we also bought the seperate ’fake flue’ to complete the fake log burner visual https://www.imaginfires.co.uk/howarth-black-bioethanol-fireplace

Could also take it outside and use in the garden at summer time although we since bought a cheap tabletop burner for outside

Friend’s daughter received terrible facial burns from from one of those

I can’t see how an ethonol burner could be in any way efficient as it burns so fast.
OK for racing car engines, not so much for heating a house?

To elaborate, I found the concept quite alarming as I couldn’t really see the flame unless it was dark or dim. And then the temptation to put more fuel in before establishing it was fully out was also a concern.

I’m assuming the one I used was very simple but at the end of the day it was a volatile liquid burning as a naked flame in an environment nowhere near anything required for wood burners, for example

We’ve got a small £100 one to fill the space of the fire place in the kitchen.  Much like this

It’s not meant as the primary heater in the room, more for decoration which it does well.  It does pump out a fair bit of heat although as has been said, it gets through fuel quickly.

It’s visually quite effective, you can see the flames and we’ve added some fake logs around the burn tray, so for us was a cheap solution.

There is the risk of accidents, as with anything that generates fire and heat, but ours is safe as long as you’re sensible.

You know you can get log burner videos and watch it on your TV, right?

Probably just as effective at heating, cheaper and with less risk of explosions.

Placebo effect log burners, awesome!

Ours isn’t placebo, it gets bloody hot! Heats the whole of downstairs. Has a slight smell to it, but nothing like as bad as calor, and less than a wood burner. We put a burner into a proper multi-fuel stove. It looks nice, too:

Short video – mute the TV sound in the background tho!

Ethanol has about 2/3 the energy density as petrol, if you burn a litre of it in these “placebo” effect log burners where do the naysayers reckon that energy goes then?

Typical bioethanol stove is 1-3kW depending on the speed of burn, which is comparable to a decent radiator or a portable fan heater.

There is the risk of accidents, as with anything that generates fire and heat, but ours is safe as long as you’re sensible.

Where’s the fun in being sensible?

I always considered ethanol to be about the most dangerous substance used in a school lab (other than possibly glass).  The flame is all but invisible in sunlight. However stoves like Trangias are probably the safest camping stoves.

As a child, we had Aladdin paraffin heaters – shudder!  Followed up by the portable Calor  carbon monoxide and dampness generators.   How did I get out of the 1970s?  Or even into the 1970s for that matter.

I always considered ethanol to be about the most dangerous substance used in a school lab (other than possibly glass). The flame is all but invisible in sunlight.

Here’s a video of a fuel fire in Indycar.

I always considered ethanol to be about the most dangerous substance used in a school lab (other than possibly glass).  The flame is all but invisible in sunlight.

The stuff I buy from Amazon burns with a very visible flame.

Feels like the use case for a fire place is fine then. 

What the use case for setting yourself on fire? 

I have the remnants of an old 70s back boiler in my chimney in my living room behind an awful old fireplace. It’s disconnected, we had a radiator added to the room so I don’t NEED the heating, all of this makes me desperate for one of these ethanol fireplaces to be a good idea for something to look at but you guys are really putting me off.

why are you only listening to the negatives though? Go to a fireplace shop and speak to someone who knows what they are talking about.

 all of this makes me desperate for one of these ethanol fireplaces to be a good idea for something to look at but you guys are really putting me off.

We’ve had ours for years, and only burnt ourselves to death three or four times. They are fine. Fill them vaguely carefully, don’t refill when they’re hot. Don’t store the fuel bottle next to the stove. A modicum of respect and there is zero problem.

one of these ethanol fireplaces to be a good idea for something to look at but you guys are really putting me off.

Aren’t the comments above all positive from everyone that has a bio ethanol fire but in true STW tradition, the nay-sayers don’t have one but happy to share negative thoughts based on YouTube videos and unfounded opinions?

We love ours, we used it to fill the space left from an old back burner.  As it’s occasional use only, it comes with none of the faff/cost of a log burner and a millions times better than an electric-burner-alike.

Like anything that has flammable substances (petrol, gas, camping gas, etc), just don’t be a dick and it’ll be perfectly safe.