Gas Fire keeps us cold

[andrewjo]

I have recently moved into a house. The previous owners have fitted a gas fire, the model being a Valor Ultimate Turbochim. The gas fire is an open fire with artificial coals, which heat up and glow orange. There are two electric fans fitted to the top/back of the fire which, I guess, are there to extract the fumes. The fire is fitted to an exterior wall, and immediately behind the fire on the outside of the wall there is a flue which allows the extracted fumes to escape. You cannot light the fire unless the fans are switched on.

Trouble is, when the fire is not lit, there is literally an arctic blast that blows into the room through the fans. This means that we have to light the fire, or at least switch on the fans, just to keep the icy blast out. Even with the central heating radiators on full blast, the room is so cold that we have to light the fire.

Does anybody know if this is how things should be? I would expect that if the fire is switched off, it would obviously not make the room any warmer but surely it shouldn't help to cool it down? Is there anything I can do to keep the cold wind from entering through the fireplace, apart from removing the fire and bricking up the flue?

PS. When the fans are switched on, you get a bloody great draught coming in from under the doors, but that's another story ...!