Chimneys and real fires

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Chimneys and real fires
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jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28235
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 05 10:06 am Post subject:

JonO wrote:

and chimneys were kinda designed for that job !

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 05 10:14 am Post subject:

[quote="JonO". The chimney sweep informed me that a lot of people fall foul of putting in liners when they don't need to as it is a rather expensive thing to do and chimneys were kinda designed for that job !

quote]

I was cynical like that until the bloke let off the smoke bomb. I watched it woosh up the chimney, good draw i thought, and then went upstairs to find the attic bedrooms full of smoke. Looked out of the velux, there was no smoke coming out of the chimney pot but the rest of the stack was leaking smoke like a seive.

JonO

Joined: 05 Mar 2005
Posts: 119
Location: South Birmingham

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 05 10:38 am Post subject:
Definatly proves the benefit of getting it tested !

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 05 12:47 pm Post subject:

Moggins, you can do a preliminary test for draw and to see if the smoke comes out of the chimney by burning some news paper, the smoke of which is not too noxious if it does enter the house. In my own experience with an inglenook, the draw was poor (perhaps due to a large cold surface area - a hot chimney improves draw), and most of the heat went into the sky. I had an Isokern liner installed, which was very good, but not the cheapest option. I was advised not to have the inflated type lining system, but it was many years ago and I can't remember the reason for it.

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 9:01 am Post subject:
We have a Clearview and love it. It's very easy to maintain, almost never goes out and we can cook on top of it. As we live on the edge of a wood and have lots of hard wood on our own land it's the obvious thing. They're also made not far from here and we picked ours up from the foundry and installed it ourselves.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 12:41 pm Post subject:
Which model have you got?

hils

Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 568
Location: Nottingham

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 1:44 pm Post subject: chimney liner
hi re chimney liners. Have a look in your Yellow pages under chimney liners - my father had his own business doing just this for years (retired now). They usually do a free quote and inspection and can let you know the best places to buy stoves or may even have a good second hand one for sale. H

hils

Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 568
Location: Nottingham

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 1:48 pm Post subject: chimney liner
ps he mainly lined with perlite which they melt or something and it sticks to the inside of the chimney. sorry not too good with the ins and outs of it!

moggins

Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 942
Location: Gloucester

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 1:50 pm Post subject:
Thanks hils, I've just found a few. Now would it be best to call out the chimney sweep first and see what he thinks. I'd prefer to do that than call in a company who are going to say straightaway, yes Mrs, you do need a liner, who would you like to take your second mortgage out with?

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 1:54 pm Post subject:
If you only had it swept two years ago a sweep wouldn't do any harm, there might be stuff stuck in it. Lining's not that expensive, ours was about a grand, and we've got a tall house. I mean, I know a grand's a lot, but not for something that lasts almost for ever and stops your house burning down.

hils

Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 568
Location: Nottingham

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 1:56 pm Post subject: chimney liner
up to you! i forget that there are con artists out there and they're not all like my dad! The chimney liner person should do a smoke test as part of the free quote to see what you actually do need to have done... not sure if you should call out sweep first though... H

moggins

Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 942
Location: Gloucester

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 2:08 pm Post subject:
Right, it's on the go!! Chimney sweep has been booked for the beginning of April. Lovely lady on the phone too. They are going to do a smoke test and check the integrity of the chimney and they also sell stoves so she said I can harangue the sweep with questions when he comes as he will be fully registered to fit them

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 2:11 pm Post subject:
Hurrah, woodburners rock. Make sure you get one where you don't need to do too much fiddling about if you need to burn coal. I know that may not be the plan but it's good to have the option. For instance ours is too little to stay in all night with just wood in it (unless we're burning oak) so being able to add in some coal is useful.

twoscoops

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1924
Location: Warwickshire

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 2:22 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

ours is too little to stay in all night with just wood in it (unless we're burning oak) so being able to add in some coal is useful.

So does that mean coal burns slower? We only burn wood, but can easily switch to coal.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 05 2:37 pm Post subject:
Loads slower, our burner uses about 1kg of wood /hour. 2 or 3 kg of coal stays in for about 8-10 hours.

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