Advice regarding gas (I think) fire

[mspfan100]

Hello,

I have recently moved into a new home and the previous owner had this gas (I think) fire on the ground floor (see pics). The reason why I think it's gas is because there is a pipe (which feels metallic but I'm not 100% sure) connected through the skirting into the ground (I can't see what it leads to without lifting the floorboards).

I had a play round with it but can't seem to get it to work (i.e. I tried pushing in the knob to ignition, then round to the bottom where the flame symbol is, but nothing happened).

Is there anyone who knows how these things work and could recommend someone to come round to see if it can be fixed or replaced? Any advice gratefully welcomed.

Thank you.

[Townleygreen]

Yes that certainly looks like a gas pipe (3rd photo) and the 2nd photo appears to show what was part of a gas log fire.

[tomskip]

What's all the ash though? Or is it dust?

[Loz]

Get a Gas Safe person (used to be CORGI) in to have a look and do a safety check on it. Old gas appliances can be lethal.

https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/

[ianr]

The manufacturers, Ceres Manufacturing Ltd, were in business from 1993 to 2001, when they were compulsorily wound up. So don't expect to be able to restore it to its original form.

[bigmacca1]

i would get it checked by a registered gas engineer before trying to us it , it looks like one of those open flame effect gas fires that were all the rage about 20 yrs ago, when you realized how little heat they put out a lot of people including me had the gas supply terminated to it or turned it off by the valve at the hearth.

[mspfan100]

Thanks, really appreciate your advice. I'm fairly certain that the chimney is open as when I stick my hand in I can feel a draught, but need to get a chimney sweep round to make sure it's not blocked (am considering putting in a wood burner instead), so will see if any chimney sweeps are capable of uninstalling this.

[nxjen]

Please don't ask a chimney sweep to uninstall it! As other posters have said, you need to have a registered Gas Safe engineer to look at it.

[Lynne]

I agree with Bigmacca I. It does look like the remains of a log-effect fire, We too had one, and while it looked good, it gave out about as much heat as a candle.

Yours looks in very ropy condition. British Gas tend to charge a lot more than anyone else, I've found, but I too would get it checked.

[mspfan100]

Thanks for the advice - I found one who on his website looked like he was gas safe registered but when I phoned he said he was no longer registered. I've posted a job on mybuilder to find a gas safe engineer.

Thank you.

[Loz]

Try advertising on the business section of the forum as well.

[alice]

just go onto the gas safe website you put in your postcode and it will come up with a list of local registered people including a photo