Suitable caps/cowls for disused chimney and living flame gas fire

[Mathew J. Newton]

Hi everyone,

I have a disused chimney/flue which, whilst blocked off (vented) at the bottom, has an open pot at the top. I have been advised that this could allow rain (and animal) ingress thus I thought I would take advantage of my next door neighbour having scaffolding up to wander up there to fit a suitable cap. The one I had in mind is the 'C-Cap' for £20 as detailed at:

comments on this choice? It seems perfect for the job, not to mention a doddle to fit requiring only a screwdriver (the thought of going up on the roof is bad enough, wrestling with tools and mortar keeps me awake at night...).

My main question however is that relating to a suitable cowl for my lounge chimney which currently has a living flame gas fire (Valor Urban) installed. Given I'll be up on the roof I thought I may as well fit another cowl for minimising rain ingress into this flue and it is my understanding that the difference here (compared with a disusued chimney) is that whatever cowl I fit must be able to cope with heat and allow sufficient draw. Thus I had my eye on the 'Brewer Birdguard' for £25 as detailed at:

types are listed - one for solid fuel fires and one for gas - the only difference seemingly being the gas version has a smaller/finer mesh. At the risk of asking a stupid question which one do I want? I initially assumed the gas version however I'm sure I may have read somewhere (here?) that a living flame gas fire requires a greater draw than a 'standard' gas fire and thus a cowl suitable for solid fuels should be fitted. Can anyone advise?

I posed the question to the above site and they said that I should use the gas version as 'the finer mesh meets the gas regs'. This confused me as my pot currently has no cowl fitted (and thus no mesh at all) so howcome the larger mesh (solid fuel version) doesn't satisfy the regs? Or am I wrong to have inferred this?

If the solid fuel version is okay, would this be a better option given it would allow the gas fire to be replaced with a real fire at a later date without requiring the cowl to be replaced? My assumed drawbacks with this version however is that the larger mesh may not be as good at keeping birds/leaves out...

I would welcome any advice on this issue - feel free to ignore my specific questions and merely recommend the cowl(s) I should get. I primarily chose the above two based on cost (i.e. cheapest!) and them appearing to be 'fit for purpose'.

Cheers,

Mathew

[Ed Sirett]

You might find that for the unused chimney a terracotta terminal whcih simply drops into the existing chimney pot is ideal and very simply to fit.

The one with the gas fire requires a terminal approved for such use. Plain open round terracotta chimney pots (amazingly) are approved. The terracotta type that drops into the top of the pot are seriously expensive (about £50+).

Any how youshould in no way fit anything other than an approved terminal on the gas flue. Since you are modifying the flue you should also check that after you have added the terminal the gas fire still passes its required spillage tests as laid out in its manual.

HTH

[Kalico]

Both of these are fine for the pots for the purposes you state.

I have 2 brewers fitted - one for gas and one for solid fuel and they were both easy to fit.

For just capping off a disused flue I use a 'pepperpot' terminal which just drops into the existing pot on a bed of a bit or mortar or silicone.

The one you show will also do the job but seems a bit pricey. In fact, a guy fitted my brewer caps for under £20 each, so £25 for supply seems steep.

You could, I guess, use a solid fuel cap for a gas fire but not the other way around. There are a few products, with one being desgined to cure down draft problems, which the one you show will not do.

If you want to get really technical, then the type I have seen that is supposed to be used with living flame fires is a complete pot, to replace the existing plain round one. A good builders merchant should be able to advise or let me know and I'll try to get you a pitcture or one.

HTH Rob

[Mathew J. Newton]

Thanks Ed (and Rob also) for the advice. As you say the terracotta drop-in cowls are somewhat more expensive than the Brewer offerings and given the latter are still simple enough to fit I will go with them. I spoke to Brewer and they confirmed that the gas version of the cowl is indeed the correct type for an ILFE.

Thanks also for the advice regarding performing a spillage test - I dug out the manual and it seems a simple enough task to carry out.

Cheers,

Mathew