Yes. A bioethanol fireplace produces real heat, not just light. But the honest answer is more useful than the short one, because the heat it gives is a particular kind — and understanding what kind is the difference between being delighted with one and being disappointed.
How much heat, in numbers
A bioethanol fireplace burns between 0.3 and 0.6 litres per hour depending on how open the flame is. Ethanol carries roughly 21 megajoules of energy per litre, which puts a typical unit at somewhere between 2 and 3 kilowatts.
For comparison, a plug-in electric heater is usually 2 kW, and a medium central-heating radiator sits in a similar range. So a bioethanol fireplace is not a decorative flicker — it is a genuine heat source in the same class as the appliances you already use to warm a room.
Why it feels warmer than the number suggests
This is the part most people miss, and it is the real advantage over a wood fire.
An open wood fire needs a chimney, and a chimney does two things: it takes the smoke out, and it takes most of the heat with it. A traditional open hearth sends the large majority of its energy straight up the flue, and can even draw warm air out of the room to feed the fire.
A bioethanol fireplace has no flue. Its combustion produces only carbon dioxide and water vapour, so there is nothing to vent — which means practically all of the heat stays where you are sitting. Two kilowatts released into the room beats a far larger fire losing most of its output to the sky.
For how long
This matters as much as the wattage, and it is where the range divides.
Tabletop models give 45 minutes to an hour per fill. That is warmth for a dinner, an aperitif, an hour with a book — a defined moment rather than a whole evening. Refuelling means letting the burner cool completely first, so plan it as one session.
The floor-standing ORA 80 holds the largest burner in our range and gives around three hours. If you want the fire to accompany a whole evening rather than mark a moment, this is the one.
What size room does it suit?
As a working figure, a fireplace of this type will noticeably warm a room of up to 30 m² — a typical living room or open-plan dining area.
Beyond that, you will still see and enjoy the flame, but you will stop feeling it from across the room. Placement matters as much as size: heat rises and spreads outward from the burner, so a fireplace at seated height warms the seating area far more effectively than one at ankle level.
Where its limits are
It will not replace your central heating. A bioethanol fireplace heats the room it is in, while it is burning. It cannot be left running while you are out or asleep.
People call that a secondary heat source, and the word does it a disservice — it suggests a smaller version of the same job. It is a different job entirely.
Central heating warms an empty house on a timer, floors you are not standing on, rooms nobody is in. A bioethanol fireplace warms the room you are actually sitting in, at the moment you are sitting in it — which, on most winter evenings, is the only room that matters. In between, it does something a radiator has never once managed: it becomes the reason people stay in the room.
Where it genuinely earns its place
- Shoulder seasons. Those September and April evenings when the house is slightly too cool but firing up the whole central heating system feels absurd.
- Flats and rentals. No chimney, no flue, no permission needed, nothing fixed to a wall — and it leaves with you. See the guide for flats.
- A single room in the evening, rather than the whole floor.
- Covered outdoor spaces. A sheltered terrace in autumn, where the warmth extends the evening — see using one outdoors.
Getting more heat out of it
- Open the burner fully. A wider flame burns more fuel and gives more heat; a narrower one lasts longer but warms less.
- Place it away from draughts. A door left open onto a cold hallway undoes the work.
- Give it time. A room takes twenty to thirty minutes to feel the difference — it is not a fan heater, and that is rather the point.
- Keep it off the floor where practical. Warmth spreads better from waist height than from ankle height.
Choosing for warmth as well as looks
If warmth matters as much as atmosphere, the ORA 80 gives the largest flame in our range, stands at seated height, and burns around three hours.
Tabletop models such as the LUME 47 or the TABLE are designed first for presence and intimacy — real warmth to the people near them rather than to the whole room. The right choice when the fire is meant to sit between you at dinner.
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