Hi
I'm considering having a stove fitted in my living room. The main reason is due to the ugliness of the present bricked up chimney opening.
I've had a quote for the work which includes everything apart from supply of the stove.
I wanted to do a bit of research before proceeding though.
The current chimney breast opening is ugly and asymmetrical so I see my options as removing the breast or opening up the fireplace to produce something more aesthetically pleasing.
View media item 108091
A friend suggested that doing so could make the room colder as most of the heat would disappear up the chimney. Is this true?
Is there no way to get a nice symmetrical, smooth finished opening with the chimney capped off if we don't fit a stove or the chimney sealed to the stove if we do fit one?
I don't want a situation where opening up the chimney necessitates having the stove on in order to combat the heat being lost up the chimney!
I also wanted some pointers on what I can burn given that I live in London?
Finally, what are the metrics used to identify an efficient stove. I don't want to get something that is hideously inefficient that makes me regret embarking on the whole enterprise.
Many thanks
I'm considering having a stove fitted in my living room. The main reason is due to the ugliness of the present bricked up chimney opening.
I've had a quote for the work which includes everything apart from supply of the stove.
I wanted to do a bit of research before proceeding though.
The current chimney breast opening is ugly and asymmetrical so I see my options as removing the breast or opening up the fireplace to produce something more aesthetically pleasing.
View media item 108091
A friend suggested that doing so could make the room colder as most of the heat would disappear up the chimney. Is this true?
Is there no way to get a nice symmetrical, smooth finished opening with the chimney capped off if we don't fit a stove or the chimney sealed to the stove if we do fit one?
I don't want a situation where opening up the chimney necessitates having the stove on in order to combat the heat being lost up the chimney!
I also wanted some pointers on what I can burn given that I live in London?
Finally, what are the metrics used to identify an efficient stove. I don't want to get something that is hideously inefficient that makes me regret embarking on the whole enterprise.
Many thanks