in the house we are buying and having never had one before know very little about living with one.

I think longer term we will replace it with a woodburner but for now its staying put

I understand draughts can be a problem, would putting in a pipe from the outside with a valve on to adjust airflow be a good idea? And if so where would you put it, directly behind or at the side?

Wood or coal, thoughts?

not sure why the post is in the bike forum ? any link ?

Don’t have much problem with draughts with ours, and I certainly wouldn’t swap it for a wood burner. Can’t best an open fire.

That looks like an original fire and surround? I certainly wouldn’t be removing that for a wood burner, that would devalue your house.

Wait until you’ve tried it and see how it burns before you start adding pipes in.

Have the chimney swept, if it hasn’t been used for a while may be a birds nest up there or just plain choked with soot.

Rod kits are cheap enough if you fancy doing it yourself, cheaper than having someone else do it. Although may be handy to watch a pro chimney sweep in action.

Coal or wood or both together.

Toasting fork 🙂 and a bag of marshmallows and crumpets, be all ready for the projected power cuts in the future then.

“That looks like an original fire and surround? I certainly wouldn’t be removing that for a wood burner, that would devalue your house.”

just dont moan about energy costs. ~20% efficient at best

best thing you could do with it if you want to retain character is to block it off between uses….

Having seen my mother-in-law’s first fire of the year, can’t stress enough how you should have the chimney swept. Luckily, my brother-in-law is a fireman… he was pretty embarrassed turning up at her house though!

Blocking it off in the summer can make a difference. Buying a chainsaw, learing how to use it and chopping down trees for free wood / helping in the neighbourhood is a good idea.

Fireguard, something like a doormat at the side to keep your fire-irons, coal scuttle and/or wood basket off the wooden floor… and some kind of wool rug out front; again to protect the wood floor. Likelyhood is an old house will be drafty enough not to need extra ventilation for an open fire.

“Buying a chainsaw, learing how to use it and chopping down trees for free wood / helping in the neighbourhood is a good idea.”

learning how to use it for neighbourhood work will involve courses and a good idea would be some insurance.

trees are heavy and dont always do what you expect especially with the inexperianced.

Get the flue tested to.

When we tried a fire in our Victorian house the first time it turned out the flue had gone porous/cracked and the upstairs rooms all filled up with fumes from the fire.

lets be honest though chaps , character or not … that mantles boggin – i like the cast fireplace but the mantles just urg.

We have an open fire. They are less effective for heating a room than a log burner but similar fun to own 😀

I made a blanking plate which we fit into the chimney throat in between fires. It does reduce the draught but also encourages damp in the chimney so be careful and remove it in the Summer would be my advice.

The wife wasnt overly keen on the wooden surround. Its a 30’s house (i believe) so it probably is original to that era. I think the mirror has to go as a start.

Wood isnt/wont be a problem as a friend has a paintball park in an old forest/coppice so i just need a trailer or use of his van, he is happy to decapitate himself with a chainsaw!

I dont anticipate the house being that draughty, seems better than our current mid 90’s thing with old wooden double glazed windows and a wooden front door. Has good double glazing, GRP front door and UPVC rear with UPVC patio doors hence thinking about a vent pipe. I thought this would allow heat to rise upstairs as oppose to being sucked down?

Any suggestions for blocking it up when not in use? Is there any kind of inflatable device you can pop in for example or is it just a case of chopping a bit of board?

http://www.chimneyballoon.com/The-Balloon/

still allow some airflow to prevent damp but stop drafts.

chimney balloon.
[Edit: beaten to it. Also remember to remove before re-lighting !! :)]

Replaced open fires in our house (restored by previous owner so not original anyway) to wood burners. Chalk and cheese as far as usable heat goes (as trail_rat says).

See how you get on but seriously think about swapping if you use it a lot..

That chimney balloon site was clearly written by someone who frequents this forum, come on, confess!

you sure that chimney baloon site isnt a pisstake ? he thinks you can make a non breathable plug with paper… my upstairs chimney in a cast fireplace (that never gets lit) is blocked with some screwed up paper – not had damp issues.

FWIW – a cheap box of wine – either drink or dispose of the contents , remove the liner.

inflate in your chimney.

I put the open fire back into my 1900’s semi – I certainly wouldn’t think of swapping over to a log burner or any other form of fire to be honest. Can’t beat sitting by an open fire when its cold outside. I don’t get any draughts as well (not that I’ve noticed).

Rip that awful fire place out the loss for what little it’ll be will be worth it. A reclaimers yard will buy it off to sell to someone with no taste, then get a log burner and dwell in the warmth that you can’t get with an open fire.

See my quick video showing the potential draught up the flue of an unlit open fireplace.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/chimney-draughts?replies=1#post-5413851

I’ve used this a couple of times to fit into cast surrounds the customer didn’t want to get rid of.
Gives the option of keeping the look but improving efficiency vastly.

Arada I400

“Can’t beat sitting by an open fire when its cold outside.”

except with a nice efficent stove.

Don’t do this though 🙄 😯
[/url]
Stove fitted by a bad, bad man by LOVATSTOVES, on Flickr[/img]

“Can’t beat sitting by an open fire when its cold outside.”

except with a nice efficent stove.

*like*

Had a wood burner in our last house and have an open fire in this one.Wood burner produces loads more heat and is more controllable but open fire is good for the soul (and for defrosting your feet after a winter ride!) If you are using wood from a friend make sure you keep it for a year to season it before you burn it.Hardwood burns longer and churn out more heat.Oh yes and don’t forget to raise two fingers to the money grabbing energy companies as you’re sat in front of the fire!!

Seems the cast surround is going to stay but the wooden mantle and surround will be in the for sale section soon.

Roll on building a mini mcmooter wood store!

There is another one in the opposite room but that has a gas fire in at present, wife wants to remove that completely as it will be the play room. Might have to open up the opinion of the STW fire loving public on that one but it may well be safer not having some form of limestone lump protruding into the floor of a playroom (to return as soon as the kids grow up!)

I get that open fires aren’t as efficient and at the moment log burning stoves are fashionable, but our open fire is lovely.

It is great to look at and contrary to what a lot of people seem to think (on here at least) , it does actually warm the place up a lot.

Toasty!

My chimney blocker is a sheet of 9mm thick plywood. Cut to the correct shape (about 16″ x 9″) with a kind-of door handle in the middle of it. I made sure that it doesn’t fully seal but I still get some damp/mould in the chimney if I leave it in all year round.

It attaches to two Steel brackets up the chimney with two magnetic door catches. I simply reach up and pull/push it into place 😀

I had to attach a length of string to it with a wooden ‘thing’ on the end, that dangles into the fireplace, to stop me or the Wife from lighting a fire with it still in place 😯