Biofuel Burners

[AndrewSchofield]

Wasn't sure where to post this....

Does anyone know anything about biofuel (bioethanol) burners as replacements for gas/electric fires? Do they give out plenty of heat (any idea on BTU/kWh euivalent??) Are they epxensive to run? Do we need any background ventiallation? In understand they do not need a flue of any kind...

Thanks!

 

[cantaloup63]

http://www.bioethanolfires.co.uk/

Interesting read - not cheap, but then again that shop is in a posh part of Manchester

 

[AndrewSchofield]

that's got me worried now - we were looking at some that are around the £350 - £450 mark - a hell of a lot cheaper than those and they look pretty similar....?

Sounds as though they are good, just the fuel doesn't seem too cheap?? That said, i'm not sure what we pay for elec/gas nowadays - perhaps should check that first!!

 

[ladylola]

I'd assume that you will still need ventilation into the room even if you don't need a flue, any fire will consume oxygen which needs replenishing.
I've looked at the link that canty put up and have to agree they are expensive and so is the fuel £40 for 20 Litres if you've brough the fire from them or £50 for the same amount if you haven't
A while ago now I asked a question on here to try and find out if it is legal to produce ethanol fuel at home in the same way as people produce bio diesel but could really get a definate answer, and googling was no help either. Back then I was thinking along the lines of running cars on an ethanol/petrol mix in the same way as Brazil have been doing for years.I think but couldn't confirm the fermentation part is ok but there may be problems when it comes to distilation although the legislation seems to cover distilation for human consumption rather than anything else.

 

[nickso]

Say no to ethanol/petrol mixes.

The fecking government are probably going to have you using E10 very soon, possibly without your knowledge, until your engine sh.its itself anyway.

Somebody probably has one of those pointless government petitions running about it already.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

If I am trying to compare the running cost of these things with the cost of an electric fire, how can I work out how much electric a fire uses? Most specifications I can see seem to specify the heat output (usually around 2kW) but is this also the amount of electric the fire consumes? I assume the fires will not be 100% efficient so a fire giving out 2kW of heat will consume more than 2kW of electricity - but not 100% sure that my simplified view on this is correct?