Conventional Flues – Fires with conventional flues rely on the natural circulation of air in a room to remove gases from combustion. They work with traditional open fires, and also glass-fronted fires. The air which is needed for combustion is supplied from the room the appliance is installed in.
Ventilation points are needed at the front of a fire that has a conventional flue, so it can essentially “breathe” and assist in the convection of the radiant heat from the fire.
Conventional flues are not quite as efficient as balanced flues as they draw in air from the room. This air, which has already been or is being heated by the fire will be taken away to aid in the combustion process. Obviously, not all this air will go at once, but over time a continual small amount of air will be taken by the demands of combustion. Although not as efficient as balanced flues, this is a perfectly natural process that comes from combustion and the requirement for the use of air.
Balanced Flues – Balanced flue fires are more efficient than their conventional flue counterparts as the fires are totally sealed from the room. Essentially there is no drawing of air from the room, which has an impact on the efficiency.
With a balanced flue, the air is taken into the fire via a twin outside pipe (not from the room!) which is mounted on an outside wall towards the rear of the fire. The removal of combustion gases exit from the second vent in the wall, to create an ultra-high-efficiency heating method.
A balanced flue is an ideal solution when you don’t have a conventional chimney. These tend to be more common in newer build properties.
Regardless of whether you go for a conventional flue or balanced flue, you can be confident that if you buy a fire from us, you are buying a high quality, high-efficiency fire. We offer fires that work with both conventional and balanced flues.