Fireplace or Stove: Which is Best for Your Home?

Struggling to choose between a rustic stove or elegant fireplace? We’ll break down the pros and cons step-by-step to help you figure out which is right for your home.

If you’ve decided that you’d like a cosy fuel-burning fire in your home, there are two main options to choose from: an open fireplace or a multifuel stove. Both are ideal for that rustic, homely feel of an actual fire, but there are quite a few key differences between them, from efficiency to installation.

Choosing between an open fireplace and a wood-burning stove can come down to what’s already in place in your house, and how much you’re willing to renovate. Adding an open fireplace to your home if you don’t have a chimney can be a massive undertaking, whereas installing a stove isn’t as big of a job.

We’ve outlined the pros and cons of each type of fire to help you figure out which one is right for you and your home, and we'll walk you through everything you need to consider!

Fireplaces or Stoves: At a Glance

How Easy Are They To Install?

Fireplaces

Installing an open fireplace can be a massive job, depending on where you’re starting from. If you’re just opening up and restoring a disused or closed fireplace and chimney, then it shouldn’t be too extensive. You will have to have your chimney checked for safety and suitability, and it may need a flue liner added.

However, if your house doesn’t already have a chimney, installing an open fireplace can be a major, expensive construction project. Open fireplaces require a Class 1 Chimney, which is suitable for withstanding the high temperatures of a solid fuel fire.

You may need to get permission from your local authority for a new chimney, and it’s quite a major construction project, so it’s definitely not suitable for every home.

The flue liner, which is a protective inner tube required for chimneys in new build homes, must have a diameter of at least 200mm, and this may increase for larger open fireplaces.

Stoves

How easy it is to install your stove depends on the model that you get, since freestanding units are a little easier than inset models. However, both are relatively straightforward to install. One of the main things to consider is your ventilation, as you’ll need to have a Class 1 flue installed.

You may be able to repurpose an existing chimney, but this will require some preparation and potentially a chimney liner, so it won’t be as instant as installing an electric stove.

A common option is installing a twin wall flue, which works like a traditional chimney but is much more straightforward to install. It also means you’re not limited to one placement for your fire even if you already have a chimney, since a twin wall flue can be installed in most areas of your home.

How Simple Are They To Use?

Fireplaces

Unlike gas or electric fires, you have to build up the fire in an open fireplace and then maintain it and keep an eye on it for the entire time that it’s in use. This also means you’ll have to remember to stop adding fuel to your fire some time before you plan to leave the fire, such as to go to bed.

Since you can’t control the airflow to the fire, there isn’t a quick way to ensure that it goes out other than keeping an eye on when you’re adding fuel and separating the logs with a poker so they cool down faster.

You may want to add a fireguard to your setup, especially if you have young children in your home. This will prevent kids or pets getting too close to the flames, and reduce the risk of sparks or embers leaving the fire and escaping into the room.

Generally, you shouldn’t keep anything flammable, such as newspapers, books and rugs, within one metre of your open fireplace.

Stoves

While you do have to get a fire going in your wood-burning stove, it’s easier to maintain than a fire in an open fireplace. It doesn’t use fuel as quickly as an open fireplace, so you don’t have to refuel it as often, although this can depend on the model you’re using.

The fire is kept behind the glass as long as you close the stove door, which eliminates the risk of embers and sparks flying out and into the room.

If you set up your stove properly and limit its airflow, it should be relatively safe to leave unattended for periods of time. However, it will burn out if you don’t add more fuel.

How Efficient Are They?

Fireplaces

Unfortunately, while open fireplaces look incredible, they don’t actually heat up your room efficiently. They lose a lot of heat up the chimney, meaning you don’t get the full benefit of the fuel that you’re burning.

They also tend to burn through fuel quite quickly, and you have no way to properly control the speed of the fire beyond putting fuel into it. 

Stoves

Stoves burn fuel much more efficiently than open fires, and you don’t lose as much heat as you do with an open fire. That makes them quite efficient for heating up the room they’re in and keeping you toasty warm.

You can control the airflow on a stove, so you can decide the speed at which the fire burns. This means you can adjust it as needed to heat up your space faster or control the flames.

What Styles Can You Get Them In?

Fireplaces

While you can get surrounds, mantels and other fireplace elements in a variety of styles, open fireplaces will always lean towards a more traditional look. They can work really well in period properties and classic style rooms, but if you’re looking for a more modern aesthetic, an electric fire might be what you need.

One of the major benefits of an open fireplace is the aesthetic that it brings to your home. It’s one of the cosiest looks for your living room and is an eye-catching feature with a roaring fire in the hearth, and it’s generally bolder and more dramatic than a stove.

Stoves

Multifuel stoves usually have a rustic, homely feel to them, but there are plenty of different styles on offer, including traditional, industrial and modern.

You can also choose between an inset stove, which fits neatly into a cutout in your wall (such as a fireplace recess), or a freestanding stove. Freestanding stoves give you so much more flexibility with placement and design; just remember that you’ll need to install a flue wherever you put your stove!

How Much Do They Cost To Install?

Fireplaces

The cost to install an open fireplace really depends on whether you’ve already got a suitable chimney in your home. You’ll need a Class 1 Chimney, and if you don’t have one, a new one will have to be built to regulations regarding its size, height and materials, and approved by your local authorities.

Constructing a new chimney and open fireplace can cost approximately £3,000-£8,000+, but this can vary depending on your home’s specific circumstances.

On the other hand, if you already have a chimney but it’s disused or closed up, getting it opened and restored is a much more affordable process. It could cost around £500-£1500, depending on how much work is needed to get your fireplace and chimney back in working order.

Stoves

You will likely have to have your stove professionally installed, as multifuel stoves require ventilation through a flue. If you already have a chimney, you may be able to have your stove installed with the chimney as ventilation, although this may include adding a chimney liner.

Overall, it will likely cost you between £1,800-£5,000, bearing in mind that if you already have a chimney, it’ll be a lot cheaper than if you need an entirely new flue to be installed for your stove. This price can also vary depending on the model of stove you buy and the condition of your chimney, if you have one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a stove better than an open fire?

It depends on what you want out of your fire.

Multifuel stoves are more efficient at heating your room, make better use of fuel (keeping running costs down) and are also easier to manage than open fireplaces.

However, an open fire can be a lot more atmospheric than a wood-burning stove, since the flames aren’t behind glass and are often larger than what you’d have in a stove.

Is it cheaper to have a fireplace or a stove?

The upfront installation costs for both open fireplaces and stoves vary massively depending on whether you already have a chimney. If you do and your fireplace is simply closed up or disused, then having it restored can be a very cost-effective option.

However, if you don’t already have a chimney, then you would need to have one constructed to have a fuel-burning, open fireplace, which can be pricey and may have to be approved by your local authorities. In this case, it’s usually much cheaper to install a multifuel stove, even with ventilation taken into account.

Once installed, a wood stove will almost certainly be cheaper to run than an open fireplace, because it burns fuel more efficiently - so you won’t have to buy as much!

Which is safer, a fireplace or wood stove?

The fire inside a wood stove is kept behind the glass door (as long as you keep it closed while it’s in use), which will stop any embers and sparks from flying out of the fire. However, unless you get a fireguard, an open fireplace has nothing to prevent those embers and sparks from coming out.

You can also adjust the airflow of a wood-burning stove, which you can’t do with an open fireplace, giving you much more control over the flames. This means you can limit the airflow, which can make it safe to leave the stove unattended for some time.

Is a Fireplace or Wood Burning Stove Right for You?

Ultimately, both open fireplaces and wood burning stoves are great ways to experience authentic flames and cosy heating in your home, but they have different specialities. The look of an open fireplace is difficult to beat, and it’s perfect for a traditional style home, with the perfect atmosphere for cosy evenings in.

However, if you need a real fire that’s also incredibly efficient and effective at heating up your room, a multifuel stove might be the right choice. It’s a safe option for homes with children and pets, and can be controlled quite easily by adjusting the airflow.

If a fuel-burning fire doesn’t sound right for you, you might be interested in our breakdown of gas and electric fires. You can also browse through our whole range of fires and fireplaces to find the perfect option for your home!