Understanding Bio Fires

UNDERSTANDING BIO FIRES

Understanding Bio Fires and What is Bioethanol Fuel?

How do they Work?

All our fireplaces and burners are:

open for constant oxygen flow (without a glass front, or with open sides)
completely flueless
smoke-free
maintenance-free

They require:

no gas connection
no installation
no power supply

For those who have not heard much about the concept of BioEthanol Fireplaces, it may seem quite an unusual idea. However, for those who use them, it is one of the most ingenious concepts, allowing everybody to have a warming fireplace literally anywhere they wish.

BioEthanol Fuel

Bioethanol fuel is a type of specially produced and denatured alcohol (toxicated so it becomes unsuitable for consumption), which is turned into a fuel for bio fireplaces. Our brand of Premium Bio Ethanol Fuel – CRYSTAL – consists of 96.6% of clean ethanol, which has been derived from fermentation of certain crops and food waste. It is a completely renewable and green fuel.

Plants absorb Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere. We use those plants as food and when processing food, there is food waste. With a little help of chemical enzymes, the biomass releases sugar and then natural microorganisms continue with the fermentation of the sugars, producing biofuel. Bio fuels have many uses in today’s world, including fuel for bio cars or machines, within the cosmetic industry or eco-friendly home heating with bio ethanol fires.

Today's fireplaces are for
ambiance, not heating

Times have changed and so did our needs. Once a source of necessary heat, fireplace in a home is now a symbolic reminiscence of warmth, family life and a care for our ‘nests’.

We don’t need it anymore, but we still love having it – as the role and function of fireplaces has changed our primary concern now is that the fireplace looks great and makes us feel cosy. With central heating in all homes, we don’t turn it on every night, so economy of use is no longer priority.

Earth-friendly

Bioethanol Fuel is produced from food waste and burns cleanly – it is a guilt-free way to add extra charm to your chilly winter evenings.

No mess and minimal installation

With so many beautiful designs of Bioethanol fireplaces on the market, why would you spend a fortune on building or fixing your flue and chimney?

A Bio fire can be installed nearly by anyone, it’s like hanging a heavy mirror.

100% Heat efficiency

As there are no toxic fumes and nasty by-products of the combustion, you don’t need a flue, so all the heat from your real flame in the Bio fire stays in to warm you up.

Combustion of bioethanol

As much as we would love to have a little bit more magic involved in our fuel production, it is in fact quite a straight forward, methodical and scientific process. Our Crystal Bioethanol Fuel has just above 96% ethanol content, it burns with a lovely large, orange flame, leaves no residue and releases virtually no odour. We say virtually – since our fireplaces burn with a REAL FLAME they cannot be completely odourless, but the very slight alcohol scent is barely smellable and 99.8% of customers are not bothered by it.

Combustion by-products (emissions) of ethanol burning are: minimal amounts of VAPOUR, CARBON DIOXIDE and HEAT. Emissions from burning ethanol are thus comparable to human breath emissions. As the alcohol fuel burns cleanly, there is effectively no need for extraction of toxins and having a flue or chimney. It is still a real flame, so always remember to employ common sense when installing or using a bio-ethanol-running fireplace.

This is what makes bioethanol fires such a revolutionary product on today’s market. As the way we heat our homes has changed in the last century, we don’t rely on fireplaces to provide essential warmth anymore – we just want the focal point, the ambience, the cosiness of a real fire dancing in front of our eyes. Bio Fires can deliver that in nearly any average size or bigger room and it is, in fact, an instant solution.

The ethanol cycle

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

The principle of operating a Bioethanol fire is very simple:

Hang the fireplace on a suitable wall (it cannot be flammable and has to hold the weight of a fire) or position a freestanding unit in a desired place (not somewhere where it could be easily knocked over).
Just fill the fuel box with suitable bio alcohol to the level indicated in the instructions or on the container.
Use the funnel provided or possibly a measuring jug to pour the fuel, if necessary, use a torch.
Be very careful not to spill any fuel.
Then light the fireplace with a long lighter or a fireplace match.
For the first 5 to 10 minutes, the typical blue alcohol flame will appear which will gradually change into a beautiful yellow-red colour when the desired combustion temperature is reached.
The flame can be compared to a flame that comes from a wood fire.
You can extinguish the fireplace at any time by simply using our extinguishing tool (following instructions), cutting the oxygen supply and putting the flame out.

So, in simple words: our fireplaces burn eco-friendly Bioethanol Fuel, which is derived completely from plants, produces no more emissions than the human breath and gives you a naturally burning flame that looks like a gas fire.

Bio fires will take the edge out of a cold night without losing any emitted heat through a chimney. They are 100% heat efficient.

Safety first

It all sounds very simple and unproblematic, and it mostly is, when you use your bio ethanol fire as instructed and with common sense. However, you must never forget that you are dealing with a real flame, so you have to take all the safety measures into account.

Bio fires can be dangerous when:

you pour fuel into a burning fire
you spill your fuel and you ignite the fireplace without drying ALL the spillage
you place your fireplace in a hallway or in extreme draught area and have flammable objects nearby (i.e. curtains)
you hang or insert a fireplace into an unprotected wall or MDF structure

Whichever fireplace you have, you always need to take into consideration the size of your room and the size of the flame / heat emitted. Be prepared to open a window for 5 minutes after the fire has been on for an hour in case it gets too hot. People often refer to ethanol fireplaces as decorative (which they mainly are!), and they are surprised about the amount of heat produced. An average bio fire will produce approx. 3 kW of heat – an equivalent (or more) of an electric heater, and it will increase the temperature in your room (depending on the size of the room) on average by 2-3 degrees Celcius.

Bioethanol fireplace: A real fire without a chimney, gas, or fumes