Has anyone here ever used one of these and just how expensive are they to run... A few years hack these used to be hugely expensive and mainly sold to the trade to be installed into luxury apartments but now I see B@Q are selling one for less than £100 and I've seen them even cheaper than that. Now aside from the fact that they are soot free and require no flue for indoor use one of the selling points I have seen is "economical"... Interesting when I've seen litre bottles of fuel being sold for over £20 and some of the figures I have seen are 0.4 - 0.5 litre per hour Even if the fuel was £2 per litre that doesn't sound particularly economical to me. Certainly not compared to a gas fire... Either way, I do think they make a nice feature and I'm thinking of one for outdoor use.
Based on a price of £2.60 per litre a bit of quick research and some maths: The fireplace I saw costs £0.52 per kWh to run. For comparison, electricity currently averages £0.1532 per kWh and mains gas £0.0464 per kWh. Heating oil I think was about £0.066 per kWh... Unless I've gone drastically wrong with my calculations I fail to see where economy comes into it
I think they are comparing the cost of their toy fireplace with the cost of a REAL fireplace. I think that the target audience is apartment dwellers that want a "real" flame, heat, and ambiance, and not require electricity. I just can't imagine it being economical compared to mains power or real wood.
I thought that the fuel for these things might provide a cheaper alternative than meths for preheating but only a handful of places sell it and its about the same price i.e. bloody expensive.
I can certainly see the appeal for people who either can't or don't want the hassle and expense of fitting a flue... My wife and I were actually thinking of a small one for outdoor use on the patio. In short I like the idea, but dispute the advertising claim that these things are economical when it costs nearly four times as much as electricity for the equivalent heat. It's very much marketed as a green fuel and almost as a "byproduct" etc.. It's also being hailed as the fuel of choice for developing countries as they can produce it locally etc.. Personally I suspect much of that is pie in the sky... But given these "facts" I'm somewhat disappointed by the price, I would have hoped it would have cost next to nothing and suspect it is being kept artificially high.. In the UK I suspect there is also duty to pay on it too, but you could probably make your own
From my own experience, I find bioethanol fireplaces too expensive. Of course, it depends where you purchase your bioethanol. But for us it cost too much to let it run for only an hour. It also adds up if you want to have your fire burning for the entire evening every night. I believe a bioethanol fire is only for owners who want to have a fire every once in a while but definelty not for those that use it frequently There are cheaper solutions out there.
One should be aware that prices of bio ethanol are currently inflated by the pandemic. Hand sanitiser has been in very short supply, and may be made from bio ethanol, water, and a little glycerin. Prior to the pandemic, bio ethanol was cheaper than it is at present and I expect prices to return to about the previous level. Bulk or wholesale supplies were probably diverted to hand sanitiser manufacture, as well as retail sales. Even at the lower price, bio ethanol is still more costly than electricity and regular use is therefore a bit pointless if electricity is available. Still worth considering for decorative effect, for outdoor use, and in case of power cuts. The fuel contains primarily ethanol, but adulterated to render it non potable, it would otherwise be incredibly cheap vodka. I have used bio ethanol to start Tilley lamps. I keep an ample stock, for use as emergency cooking fuel, to start pressure lamps, and recently to make hand sanitiser.
For pre heating or even alcohol lamps I use bio ethanol from the Action. I can't recall the price but it can't be a lot.
Somewhere around 1,5 euro per liter the last time I bought some at Action, Wim @WimVe . It used to be a bit less than 1,5 euros but now is just over 1,5 euros. Still cheap!
"require no flue for indoor use". If you don't mind damp on your ceiling and walls from the water vapour these things produce.
Unless I'm lost here you can buy 91% rubbing alcohol in I believe a 12 ounce bottle for under $2. This will work just as well as denatured alcohol and it's cheaper.
Sorry guys/gals I am not with it!!! I just checked now and this damn stuff has gone out of sight!!! Had a couple of bottles from about a year ago and they didn't cost what they're asking now!! Greatly SOB's!!
Gosh, I'm really sorry if I led anyone off "the cliff"! I never realized how expensive this stuff is now. It's probably due to it being used as a disinfectant (! Covid19). My wife just told me she can't even get it around here where we live, even the 70% is not easy to find!
A very well known genever (gin) distillery not far from home has changed part of their production line to make hand sanitizer because of the extremely high demand these days. Business is blooming!
Isn't rubbing alchohol Isopropyl alchohol? I'm pretty sure that is what I have here. I seem to remember that it burns with a yellow flame. Nothing like as sooty as Paraffin but not the same as the colourless/blue flame of Meths or Ethanol.
I think that's different. C2H6O Ethanol - main constituent of Meths and probably Bio-Ethanol. CH3CHOHCH3 - Isopropyl Alchohol.
In Australia rubbing alcohol is 70% (or higher) Isopropyl alcohol. Because of food/health standard legislation, what is sold as “methylated spirits” is actually 95%+ ethanol with bitterant added. I bought 20 litres of our “methylated spirits” the other day for AUD$76 which is the best price I could find, but $20 more expensive than pre-COVID. Tony
