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Now that I am working from home and it's getting quite chilly, I wonder if I could get some advise?
We have a very large fireplace with a shiny silver hose / flue tucked up out of site. Almost certainly a flue for a wood burner.
If I wanted to install a new wood burner, would be as simple as sticking a chimney sweep brush up the flue and watch for it sticking out of the chimney on the roof to ensure it's clear and 'plummed in' correctly and then buy a burner, fasten the flue thing to the chimney of the burner with a large jubilee clip or something and light it up? It seems to easy, to me.
I am aware that wood burners and fires are the work of the devil but we live in a very small country hamlet, we have 3 working, open coal / wood fires in the house, as does everybody on our row of cottages and I'm freezing cold in the dining room which is completely north facing.
you can do a smoke leak test if there is some question on the health of the flue.
Pretty much yes, you can do that. But really, do it properly.
What grade is the flue?
Could it be an old gas flue?
Lighter grades of flues can only have wood burnt in them,and gas ones cannot have any solid fuel burnt through them, coal burns at a higher temperature, and can damage the cheaper flues.
A jubilee clip wouldnt be enough, get it properly sealed.
And the immediate surrounding area needs to be able to withstand the temperature with no risk of catching fire.
There are some good guides online about fitting wood burners, I did mine around 5 years ago, we get a sweep in every year, he always notes down that our hearth isnt to the Building regs, - it isnt deep enough, and we havent got a CO detector.
Please get a CO detector Alan. One of best friends died of CO poisoning.
I'd suggest rather than following an online guide and getting the hearth wrong and not having a co monitor.
Follow part J and get building regs sign off.
You don't have to do it if diying but it is a good confirmation that you have not done anything fundamentally wrong
Stove Fitters Manual was a big help when I did mine, but yeah, document J is your friend.
I wouldn't advise putting a burner on a flue of unknown history even if it's the correct grade. There's been some pretty shonky advice on here from DIY fitters who think they know it all cuz they've fitted one stove and are still alive.
The key question is, do you have central heating?
If yes, just turn the bloody thing on.
I would have thought ( but not sure) that if the liner is a flexy one then its for a gas fire not a log / coal burner.
There are proper connector pieces and they MUST be sealed properly
Bear in mind that the fire (gas or otherwise) may have been taken out due to an issue with the flue.
Proper check needed unless you are the sort of person to read through the building regs quoted above, DIY it (properly) and get sign off via the council.
If you have no idea of what the existing flue is, best off just using it to pull a new one through. Unless you have a 6 storey house, it's probably one of the cheapest parts of an install and lots of shiny.
For the cost of a new length of flu it’s not worth risking it. Could be the wrong grade, upside down, damaged stuff like that.
I see loads of poorly installed stoves that are death traps.
alanl seriously you should address these faults, do you think your insurance would pay up if you had a fire caused by hearth not deep enough?? Is it worth the risk for a little bit of money to fix it and have piece of mind
Pic of the silver hose?
https://www.stovefitterswarehouse.co.uk/
loads of usefull info on that site.
fitting my new stove this weekend although not fitting a liner( old stove never had a liner) untill i alter the fireplace next year, just had to get a sealing plate for the flu pipe to cover the bigger hole from the old massive boiler stove its replacing.
it will be the only heating downstairs this winter so it'll be nice to have one that actually does a good job of heating the room.
as said above though i wouldn't use whats there, the cost of a new liner isn't much.
we've been in the house 4 years and never had a CO detecter so thought i better get one, think it was only about £18.
IT might be ok, but potential risk and cosequence if not is high so as said before bin it. The other thing to consider is the flue needs to be the right size for the burner you are putting in for it to draw correctly and match the burner so it works efficiently. Have fun
ps dont be tempted to rip it out and not fit a liner. A friend did that and the amount of soot and tar that built up in the chimney due to reduced draft vs open fire meant the tar seeped through the mortar and stained his internal walls and was difficult to get rid of not to mention the serious chimney fire risk
I’d say get your local stove man in to do it for peace of mind then enjoy the fruits of his labour. Lots nicer than central heating.
dont be tempted to rip it out and not fit a liner. A friend did that and the amount of soot and tar that built up in the chimney due to reduced draft vs open fire meant the tar seeped through the mortar and stained his internal walls and was difficult to get rid of not to mention the serious chimney fire risk
I think what you meant to say was ..... He had a liner because his masonry chimney was compromised.
I would have thought ( but not sure) that if the liner is a flexy one then its for a gas fire not a log / coal burner.
It could be either. Loads of solid fuel liners are flexible.