Photo: Kasia and Mike / Flickr

The thing about flueless gas fires is that, as the name suggests, you don’t need a chimney to have one. Added to that, they look good, provide great warmth, and don’t let off any gas or smoke, making them very clean. The best part of all this is that if you long for the warmth and cosiness of a fire as the weather starts turning cold again and we head into winter, you can have one, even in an apartment or a house without a chimney.

How gas fires work

Gas fires work by burning natural gas rather than wood or charcoal. While gas is not a renewable resource, burning it doesn’t produce any smoke, making gas heaters a reasonably good choice for the environmentally conscious. If you really want to go green, you can invest in a gas fire that burns bioethanol fuel which is biodegradeable, renewable, and far less toxic than fossil fuels.

Flueless gas fires usually have a glass sheet in the front that prevents gas from escaping. A converter traps harmful gases like carbon monoxide and converts them into carbon dioxide, which is harmless. Clean, heated air escapes the top of the gas fire, warming up the room.

Looks

Besides doing the job of heating up a room really well, flueless gas heaters look really good. Many are very sleek, with some looking not unlike flat-screen TVs. They look really great in a room with modern, minimalist decor, and tie in really well with beautifully designed home entertainment systems. If your home has a more rustic look, though, gas fire heaters that look more like traditional fireplaces or charcoal stoves are also available.

Pricing

Flueless gas heaters are more expensive than traditional gas fires, but well worth the investment as they’re long lasting, beautiful, and reliable. The reason for the high cost of these heaters is that the converter they come with is pricey, as is the platinum used in making them.

So, just because you live in a small space or don’t have a chimney, there’s no reason you can’t gather around the fire this winter.