In today’s market of high energy costs, one of the most asked questions by customers visiting our showroom is, “ How much will it cost to run my new gas fire?”
Here I will attempt to give you the simple calculations we use to determine the running cost of one of our most popular high efficiency living flame gas fires, The Wild Fire Cressida.
With a total gas input of 6.9KW of gas on its highest setting, giving 4.7kw heat output, the Crasida is running at an impressive 85% efficiency.
To calculate the running cost, we take the average cost of gas per kilowatt hour at 7.1p and multiply it by the input of the fire on full at 6.9kw per hour, which gives a maximum running cost of 49p per hour.
Minimal Usage, Maximum Savings!
Another consideration is the length of time the fire will be running at its full capacity. Many of today’s modern High-Efficiency gas fires are designed to heat your space quickly and, more importantly, keep that heat within the room.
We should consider that after roughly an hour of use on its highest setting, the fire will probably be turned down to its lowest setting, which consumes 2kw of gas and gives 1.5kw heat at a cost of 14.2p per hour.
Comparison
If we compare these costs to a pre-2010 open-fronted living flame effect gas fire, still consuming the same amount of gas but running at less than half the efficiency of a High-efficiency gas fire and giving a maximum heat output of 2.5 to 3kw of heat and allowing much of the heat produced to be drawn into the flue and eventually out into the atmosphere. The old gas fire will need to be on its highest setting for much longer, if not constantly, and consume more gas.
With these simple calculations, it’s clear to see why the initial investment in any of our range of high-efficiency gas fires will soon start to pay for itself.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of high-efficiency gas fires and how they work, please see my blog on “High-Energy Efficiency Gas Fires.”