Bioethanol Fireplaces for Flats and Rentals

If you live in a flat or you rent, a fireplace has probably felt like something other people have. No chimney, no permission to make holes in someone else's walls, and no appetite for spending four figures on a property you may leave.

A bioethanol fireplace removes every one of those obstacles at once. This is the situation it was made for.

Why a flat usually rules out a fireplace

A wood burner needs a flue running to the outside air. In a house that means a chimney or a twin-wall system through the roof. In a flat it usually means nothing at all is possible: you would need to route a flue through the building's structure, which the freeholder will not allow and the building regulations will not favour.

Even where it is technically possible, the cost decides it. A log burner installed in a UK home without an existing chimney runs to between £4,600 and £7,300, is notifiable building work under Part J, and requires a HETAS-registered installer. On a rented flat, the question does not arise.

Why bioethanol changes the answer

A bioethanol fireplace burns alcohol, and complete combustion produces only carbon dioxide and water vapour. There is no smoke and no soot — so there is nothing to extract, and therefore no flue.

What that means in a rented flat:

• Nothing is fixed to the building. No holes, no brackets, no structural work, nothing to make good when you leave.
• No permission needed. There is nothing to notify, because nothing is being installed. It is a freestanding object, like a lamp.
• No electrician, no gas fitter, no certificate.
• It leaves with you. It goes in the van with the sofa. This is the point renters underestimate — it is furniture, not a fixture.
• It arrives ready. Out of the box, filled and lit in about three minutes.

What to check before buying, in a flat specifically

Your tenancy agreement

Most agreements say nothing about freestanding decorative objects, because there is nothing to say. Some prohibit open flames including candles. Read the clause on flames and naked lights — it takes two minutes and settles the question.

Ventilation

A normally ventilated room is enough: an ordinary living room with a door and a window. What to avoid is a small sealed space with no air movement. Modern, heavily sealed flats deserve a little more attention here than a draughty period building.

Room size and clearance

Allow one metre of clear space in every direction, including above. In a compact flat that is the real constraint — measure before you choose between a floor model and a tabletop one.

Smoke alarms

A bioethanol fireplace produces no smoke, so a correctly working optical alarm should not trigger. If yours is an older ionisation type sited very close to where you plan to put the fireplace, expect to test it before you rely on it.

Which model suits a flat

The right choice depends on your floor space and who else lives there.

If you have floor space and want warmth, the ORA 80 stands at 80 cm, carries the largest burner in our range and puts the flame at seated height, where the heat does the most good. It is also the safest choice with children, since it cannot be knocked off a table.

If space is tight, a tabletop model uses surfaces you already have. The CUBE is the most restrained at 35 cm on a shelf or console; the LUME 47 is the most sculptural on a sideboard; the TABLE is low enough to sit on a dining table between two people.

If you have a balcony, several models work in sheltered outdoor spaces — see using one outdoors. A balcony evening in September is one of the better arguments for owning one.

Our choosing guide settles it in four questions.

What it costs to live with

The fireplace itself is £100 to £200, once. Fuel runs roughly £1 to £2 an hour, less if you buy in bulk — about the price of a coffee for an evening. There is no installation, no servicing, no annual sweeping and no certificate to renew. Our running costs guide has the detail.

Before your first evening

Read the safety rules — cool before refuelling, snuffer instead of water, a metre of clearance. They take two minutes to learn and they matter more in a smaller home, not less.

Then see the range in our bioethanol fireplaces collection, or start with how a bioethanol fireplace works if the category is new to you.