A grate is made of cast iron bars with gaps in between to allow the flow of air from underneath. The fire cannot burn without this airflow from underneath. Grates come in a multitude of shapes and sizes and you should aim to get one that best fits your fireplace.
Many of our customers find making a paper or cardboard template of the opening that the fire grate has to fit and then sending this to us is the best way to get a good fitting fire grate.
To be able to burn solid fuel in your fireplace you will need a firegrate and fire-fret, or a fire-basket.
Sometimes with older fires it is not possible to get the correct fire grate anymore, there are two alternative solutions to this:
We can get the best possible fitting grate and maybe provide some fire cheeks to fill any gaps if you ring us on 0191 268 0027 or e-mail info@thefiresideshop.co.uk with your sizes .
We are able to get fire grates cast to size from a UK foundry. For this we would require an accurate cardboard template and also if possible some photographs of the fire sending to us. Our contact details can be found from the top of this page.
The fire fret is placed in front of the fire grate to stop the fuel falling from the grate, as you will see from our fire fret page fire frets come in many designs to fit varying room styles.
This grate and fret arrangement is generally used in ‘standard tapered fireplaces’ Fire baskets are generally larger in size than fire grates and are used mainly in inglenook type openings and larger fireplaces. As you will see from our fires complete page there are many styles of fire basket available reflecting room styles.
They can be period, traditional or modern and can be solid free standing or in some cases can be placed on firedogs. It is recommended that in addition to the fire grate or fire basket you purchase an ash pan to place under the fire to catch the ash, this makes the cleaning of the fire a lot easier!
We can also provide ash pan carriers, that are designed to carry the ash pan out of the room without any risk of spillage. We also provide special ash bins designed to allow you to put the hot ash straight in without the risk of melting the container, or the ash bin catching alight. As with fire grates we can also make ash pans to size.
