Bio-ethanol Ventless Fireplace In a Passivhaus ?

[Nic]

Hi 

as per title 

Bio-ethanol Ventless Fireplace In a Passivhaus ? discuss

 

wife would like a real fire having looking into the log burner side of things and get one that is using an outside air supply and the difficulty in ensuring a good airtight fit with all the joints so as to not leak into my air  tight home, I was considering the bio fuel system. I know they are more cosmetic and as I don’t need a lot of heat due to the levels of insulation etc . I was considering this as an option 

 

any thoughts please 

 

[mike2016]

Looked into this a few years ago - getting ethanol was a problem for me - also heat output, despite being small was a problem if I recall!! Looked into LED alternatives but nothing like a real fire!! 

[Russdl]

We have used a 2kW bio ethanol fire for the last three winters now. It lives in the lounge, on the coffee table.
 

Of an evening if there’s a nip in the air we light it for 30-40 mins with the lounge door partially closed. It quickly warms the room (not the whole house) and the room stays cosy for the rest of the evening. The more open plan your house is the less effective it will be.
 

We’ve probably used it a dozen or more times so far this winter, more than previous winters due to the distinct lack of sunshine. 
 

It’s in no way a replacement for the beautiful Clearview stove we had in our old house but it does what is required of it, it has a real flame, it doesn’t create any ash or need cleaning and I’m not spending loads of my spare time harvesting, chopping storing and fetching timber.
 

It’s also hundreds or thousands of pounds cheaper than an installed passive standard log burner (that most likely wouldnt get a great deal of use). We wouldn’t  change a thing. 
 

  On 13/02/2024 at 20:28, mike2016 said:

getting ethanol was a problem for me

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We get ours from Amazon. 

[ProDave]

  On 13/02/2024 at 20:54, Russdl said:

We get ours from Amazon.

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Care to post an example?  Can you get it in sensible size quantities.

 

I ask because we have a spirit burning stove on our boat and we currently burn meths which stinks.  I would like to find an alternative fuel for it that has no smell, and is available in larger bottles than the usual silly little 500ml meths bottles.  And preferably cheaper than that (hence wanting to buy in larger quantity)

[Russdl]

This is the stuff we’ve ordered. 6 x1L bottles, £24.49
 

Edited February 13, 2024 by Russdl

[Dan F]

Look at the Dimplex Optimyst/Opti-V poducts.  While not a real fire, we personally liked the effect this create more than some of the bioehtanal options, but without the heat or ethanol smell!  We used the cassete version and built it into a slate bench and even plumbed it in.

[Russdl]

There is no discernible smell from our bio ethanol fire. 

[jamiehamy]

We've actually got 4 in the house! We've had them for years and love them - when we had a power outage for 3 days, we only needed to run one (2x3kWh output) and the house temperature was just fine. They are a  luxury and we only use them when we feel like, but they do provide a decent heat output and nice atmosphere. 

 

We get fuel from here at the moment https://ekofuel.org/shop.html. I've just bought 48 litres. 

[Russdl]

@jamiehamy thanks for the link to the fuel, doesn’t that unit price decrease with bulk! 
 

I’m pretty sure we’ve only ordered 3 lots of 6L - so 18 bottles in total - and we still have 8 and a bit bottles left after 2.5 winters but I’ll definitely re-stock from ekofuel when the time comes. 

[Russdl]

And, as an aside we also use our bio ethanol fuel to make our own surgical spirit aka  ‘rubbing alcohol’
 

70% bio ethanol

30% deionised water*

Almost odourless and cleans almost everything. 
 

 

*we collect this from the dehumidifier when we dry clothes indoors in the winter. 

[Nic]

  On 14/02/2024 at 02:01, Dan F said:

Look at the Dimplex Optimyst/Opti-V poducts.  While not a real fire, we personally liked the effect this create more than some of the bioehtanal options, but without the heat or ethanol smell!  We used the cassete version and built it into a slate bench and even plumbed it in.

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Have you got some images please? 

[Dan F]

  On 14/02/2024 at 18:13, Nic said:

Have you got some images please? 

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Have a look on youtube, that way you can see the effect they produce too.   This is the "cassete" version that we used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEmPgSSB4s4

 

Edited February 14, 2024 by Dan F

[Norbert]

hmmmm..... while i do not feel the need to have any type of fire in our new build (unlike Mrs...) I do wonder how we would get on in an extended power cut. After Arwen we were without power for 5 days, however with 2x wood burners and a gas hob we survived just fine. If the house was all electric what then? I guess a back up gas camping stove thingy would work OK-ish for cooking and hot drinks, but what about space heating?

 

I can see that a 2-3kw bio ethanol burner might well plug the gap, what does anyone else do?