Chimney advice

Thanks,

Anyone used one of these ? Are they effective ?

Personally, no. To block my fireplace, I just used a 'plug' of rockwool since I have no need to keep removing/replacing it, YMMV.

the bridges are knackered?

Many years ago I used a ball of newspaper as a temporary plug, thinking it would be sufficient. One very stormy night (we were in a very exposed position), it just disappeared up the chimney and away, never to be seen again!

Yes, we had a few in our last house. They do need topping up, especially when the temperature drops and they shrink a bit.

Yes well many of us have just one chimney that passes a gas fire in the bedroom, which of course lets smoke into the bedroom, we just blocked it off completely upstairs and used an electric heater, but nowadays of course the downstairs open fires are no longer in use in any case. God when I think back they were messy things. Brian

send a child up the chimney I say .. keep them clean

We have encountered this occasionally in our cottage.

Anyway, all chimneys vent into a shared "stack" and on occasions our smoke has gone to the top of the stack then been sucked down into the neighbours bedroom through a disused fireplace.

Only in the warmer months when we just light the fire to air things out as I'd not make the same raging fire as on winter visits. Solution is to get the fire rip-roaring hot ASAP so the heat (and smoke) only go up. Easy enough to do in the controlled wood burner environment but we also have the fireplace on the opposite side "open" and it's a big space so next to impossible to get an open fire hot enough as the air flow goes just goes "around" the fire so gave up on that plan, but heat is your friend when it comes to smoke going the wrong way so I've found.