A question asked this morning by one of our customers as to exactly what a living flame gas fire as and more importantly to them are they realistic.
The Gallery range of Fireplaces we supply do have the option in all of our Fireplace Packages to choose gas fires as an option.
Also available on the individual fireplaces is an option to choose a gas fire
Except for the Modern Fireplaces suites section these are all living flame gas fires and are for decorative use more than a main heating appliance.
DGF fires which means decorative gas fires have a heat output of around 2.2kw so you will get some heat off it but not enough to heat any room of its own accord.
The main feature of these gas fires is for decorative purposes only and i must admit they are very realistic, when they have fully warmed up all the fibre coals glow and the flames will move around like a traditional wood burning fire without the smell and crackling though.
These particular gas trays have been designed for the Gallery range of fireplaces and work very well with them available in both mains gas and LPG (bottled gas) they have to have a real chimney or flue to expel the fumes.
Class 1 fires are chimney greater than 7″ in diameter and designed for solid fuel use
Class 2 fires can work on 5″ flexible gas liners and chimney less than 7″ but more than 5″ in diameter.
Most of the Decorative gas fires we supply will work in both flue types so if i have confused you about this just contact me if unsure.
So hope that makes a little more sense into exactly what they are and if you were to see one working im pretty sure you would agree they are very realsitic and offer a fantstic alternative to solid fuel use for a no mess fireplace.

Following on from a converstaion i was having with someone this morning enquiring about LPG gas fires and what type of flues they require i thought i would add a few comments on the matter.
For most of our Cast iron fireplaces we can supply a liquid petroleum gas fire or lpg fire as its more commonly known, for those of you still in doubt it is a fire that runs on bottled gas the type you use in Caravans etc.
Not everyone especially right out in the countryside or middle of nowhere has mains gas so they have to use bottled gas or have a tank filled for their gas requirements.
So we deal with a company that supplies LPG gas fires for all our fireplace range and they look exactly the same as the standard living flame fires.
So the only difference is these fires require a Class 1 chimney to vent them correctly which must be a minimum of 7″ in Diameter.
If you do not have this type of lue system the gas fire will not work correctly as it can not draw the fumes properley and should not be connected to anything less than this.
So the customer we were speaking too had a 5″ or 6″ twin walled system which had been used for oil use which im afraid is not going to be any use for the LPG gas fire they require.
So he has gone of to measure exactly what he requires as the price of oil has risen so much he has switched to lpg gas in a bid to cut his fuel bills.
If it was me i would have opted for solid fuel fire but he says he does not like the mess and cant be bothered to make a fire every time he wants to put the fire on.
So just make sure when ordering an LPG fire you do hgave the correct flus as it will not work on standard 5″ gas liner and no fitter will connect it to that so just make a little note to make sure everything is correct before purchasing

As part of the gallery range of Fireplaces and stoves we sell on our website we offer two types of gas inserts one is an own brand fire and the other is a Nuflame Gas fire.
Both have the same heat output but to be hones t the Nuflame fire is of better quality and produces a better flame pattern hence the £30 price difference.
So how do they they work and do they need a power supply.
First off you will be glad to know thyey do not require any type of power supply to ignite them so there is no need for electrical socket anywhere near the fireplace.
They are started by a Piezo strater and the gas fire has three setting, Pilot Light, Low Flame, High Flame.
That is it really very few parts to go wrong and they are a living flame fire where the flame dances amongst the fuel bed and the colas supplied glow and infact they are pretty realsitic.
As for heat outputs they are designed as a decorative flame effect fire and are not designed to provide a main souce of heat, they will add secondary heat of around 2kw but thats all.
So if you need any more information abou our gas fires or indeed fireplaces just give us a shout

In the purple gallery brochure for 2010-2011 it list a range of HE gas fires for the Jubilee and Lytton Arched fireplaces and also the new Pembroke Highlighted HE gas fire too.
These products at the moment are not for sale on the interent or indeed even to be marketed on there they are solely for shops to sell in the showrooms.
Now im not 100% sure why this has been done but i have a good idea its to keep the fireplace highstreet shops happy, anyway thats old news im more than happy to obey these rules whether or not i agree with them.
So as we have had new showroom built to our design we have decided to incorporate after a visit from Adam one of these fireplaces as a live display with the power flue so it can be seen working and customers visiting our showroom have the option to buy them.
They are quite expensive and come with manual and remote controlled options and also a choice of whether they have glass fronts or are just an open fronted convector fire.
With the design of these fireplaces it does detract from the original victorian design of the fireplaces due to the black hood plate but also on the other hand offers a great gas heating alternative from an otherwise traditional looking fire.
Im afraid we can not list prices on here too as we have agreed not to but anyone visiting our showroom will soon be able to view one there.

Now this question was yesterday asked me by a previous customer of ours who had one of our fireplaces installed 18 months ago and was ringing for some advice
He started to tell me a story about his fireplace and how he had been using it and recently he has been able to smell gas fumes whilst it is running and yesterday when the gas man came to service his fire told him not to use it.
Very odd i thought so i asked him a few questions to find out wht he had and who installed it for him.
He had got a local plumber to connect it for him as a favour which is all well and good as long as you get a certificate stating it has been connected in accordance with the rules etc.
So it transpires the gas fire is a DGF model and is for LPG which is bottled gas, again all fine that is the correct model, he then went on to tell me about the chimney liner that was installed by his builder.
Now stop right there i said Chimney liner can i ask what size it is ?
127mm came the answer now i knew instantly what the problem is.
You are trying to run a Class 1 gas fire which requires chimney diameter of 7″ minimum on a class 2 flue thats the reason you can smell gas fumes it can not take the fumes away correctly.
I explained what was needed and he then told me he was going to get gas engineer to call me, so 30 mins later i was talking to gasman explaining why it would not work and how they could alter the flue etc and then it would work.
He said he had only connected it as a favour and wish he hadn’t bothered.
Well on that note i thought im not getting anywhere here our customer is not happy and gasman clearly has no idea what he is doing so please get your installer to read the instructions before fitting and if they are in any doubt give us a call we are here to help.
Most Gas Safe registered fitters know what they are doing and to make that mistake is just simply not on he may as well have connected it himself it would have been just as dangerous.
Im amazed it passed the spillage test when first being tested but he said it did and acording to the customer he can only smell it when its windy.
I advised him not to use the gas fire until everything is sorted out and the flue has been altered he really is a lucky man to still be here

As some of our customers like to visit our showrrom to see the fireplaces and stoves we sell in the flesh as to speak before they purchase we have decided to offer a larger showroom and more displays to show our customers the full range of gallery fireplaces.
As part of this new showroom we are having some live display fireplaces from electric convectors to the fully working firefox 12 stove suite.
The firefox 12 has started to be installed today after i collected the brick chamber suite this morning from our suppliers, this is being installed with a fully working twin wall flue system to take the fumes away, quite expensive i must add but i feel the expense will be well worth it so our customers can see a real wood burning working fireplace installed.
It is always nicer to see items working and we are currently looking at plans to have a gas fire option installed too at our new showroom.
This will then give our visiting customers the chance to view all fuel options and give them a better look at what they are buying.
There are numerous fireplace retailers online some with showrooms some without so when choosing where to buy your fireplace ask them if they do have a real showroom you can visit and what fireplaces they have on display.
I am pretty sure no one will have a better range than us and again im pretty sure if we do not have it on display in the showroom (which will be unlikely) we will have something in the factory to show you.
I will post photos tomorrow of the firefox 12 suite being fitted as soon as i get chance to move them over from my iphone

When fitting a new gas fireplaces all gas safe registered fitters install and test the gas fires to make sure they are running correctly and all is safe.
We have had a customer ring me today asking why his flame is blue and is being drawn into the chimney breast past the dampler flap on the lytton fireplace he has purchased.
This is caused by the chimney having excessive draw and basically its pulling to hard so the flames are bieng pulled into the chimney ruining the effect.
Mine at home was the same when i installed that and i had a cowling placed on my chimney pot which made it alot better.
I told our customer to contact the gas safe registered installer who fitted it for him to see what can be done to slow down the excessive draw of the chimney.
Im prett sure it can be solved quite simply so the effect of the fire can be seen correctly and so it will look more atractive.
He had moved the coals arounf himself to try and get it to work properly but i advised him there was a certain pattern for the coals to be laid and not to alter them.
So hopegfully it gets sorted for him by his fitter i must say im a little suprised the gas fitter didnt mention it on commisioning the fire most normally do.

When we think of a fire on a winter’s day, we tend to think of a roaring wood or coal fire, but this isn’t a practical option in many homes. For many of us, we have to rely on gas fireplaces. This might be seen as a compromise; however, there are a few ways in which gas fireplaces score over their traditional counterparts.

Firstly and perhaps most importantly, gas fires are substantially cleaner than real fires. Burning wood or coal leads to smoke and while we have chimneys to allow it to escape, this does not always work flawlessly. Real fires also lead to a large amount of detritus afterwards in the form of ash and cinders and the fire can spit too, depositing charred specks of dirt on your carpet or wood floor. In contrast, a gas fire is clean and requires little in the way of maintenance.

Gas fires are also much easier to operate. You simply turn them on and off as you need, meaning you have much greater control over heating your home and you don’t have to keep adding fuel to keep it going. A lot of the newer models of gas fires even boast a remote control, offering even greater ease of use.