Micromarble fire surrounds and balanced flue gas fires

[Canardly]

Any expert knowledge on this subject out there? Lots of conflicting advice from suppliers as to whether Balanced Flue fires are appropriate for man made marble surrounds. The issue is that BF fires burn 'hotter' than normal gas fires set into chimneys etc. Some suppliers say is ok others do not recommend, probably due to a possibility of cracking/affecting binding matrix.

Obtaining hard info from manufacturers is to put it mildly, difficult. lt seems that a 150 Deg C rated surround should be ok up to a 4kw output fire but very few references out there to back this up. One fire manufacturer has said a particular model should be ok in a 150 deg C rated surround but advised beware as not many of these rated models on the market.
Limestone is the obvious alternative but has its own issues regarding staining and cleaning. Black granite is too funereal.

[Canardly]

The more I look into this the more odd it becomes. I have printed off statements from manufacturers who state that balanced flue fires are ideal for their micro marble surrounds. Yet another manufacturer states that their surrounds are good for gas fires up to 4kw. I have emailed the latter to ask if this includes BF fires and at the time of writing have not received a reply.