A gas stove will give you much of the ambience of the wood burner but without the hard work and daily maintenance. Cleaning is a breeze when you don’t have the considerations of soot and ash build-up, or solid fuel to replenish. Gas stoves take care of themselves. All you really need is a professional to give your unit a check every year to ensure its all working safely and properly, and you’re good to go
How about running costs? Well, obviously, wood is the traditional option, but unless you have your own supplies, gas is cheaper to run - almost twice as cheap as wood when it comes to keeping a whole room warm.
The safety aspect of gas stoves for pets and young children compared with wood burners is convincing. No sparks, no real fire, and no dangerous fumes to be inhaled. If safety around animals and kids is a particular factor for you, it’s worth considering the gas option. What’s more, when you come home from a brisk walk in the snow, or laden down with the family shopping, a quick flick of a switch will make the room warm and toasty, without the weight of stacking the logs, fanning a flame and waiting for the fire to slowly come to life. And when its warm enough, you can’t turn it down, you have to wait for the fire to burn itself out naturally. On the other hand, some gas fires have inbuilt fans for effective heat circulation, and with a gas fire, you can even choose a remote control version to regulate the temperature of the room. Fingertip control means you can conserve the energy you don’t need today, rather than waste it.
Both a traditional gas stove and a classic wood burner require an external chimney to vent the gases produced and keep your room safe and warm, but both can be vented through an external wall if necessary, meaning they are easy to install and flexible for rooms and homes without existing chimney places.
So the choice is up to you. If you have your heart set on a real wood burner in your house, you’ll find some beautiful models to choose from. But if you like the thought of the real flames, but you'd prefer not to have to clean the fireplace, carry and stack the fuel, and wait for the heat to circulate, the safer, more self-contained and controllable heating option of a gas stove could suit you better. We can show you some gas stoves that will give you the sense of the real flame without those disadvantages.
Some people like wood burners. Others like gas stoves. Do the research and make sure you get the unit you really want for your heating your home.