Chimney advice

[cf-leeds]

I recently fitted cowls to adjacent chimney pots, which are for the living room and bedroom directly above it.

The bedroom has an open fireplace, which is not in use, so I used a cowl that taps off the chimney and has holes around it to allow airflow.

We sometimes use the open fire in the living room, so I fitted a mushroom shaped cowl for that one. Keeps out the rain, but has a good airflow for an open fire.

Problem is now that when I light a fire, the smoke is not dispersing vertically and seems to be sucked down the chimney into the upstairs bedroom.

So, can anyone recommend a way around this. The choices seem to be:

-Block off the unused fireplace chimney flue in the bedroom (from the bedroom end)

-Block off the bedroom chimney completely with a different type of cowl

-Somehow rain the cowl of the open fire chimney (would rather not do that - don't want to go on the roof)

Any advice appreciated, in particular around how best to block of the bedroom chimney from the inside.

Thanks

[Andy Burns]

[cf-leeds]

Thanks,

Anyone used one of these ? Are they effective ?

[Andy Burns]

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

[Jim Stewart ...]

the bridges are knackered?

[Chris Hogg]

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!

[Clive Arthur]

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

[Brian Gaff]

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

[rick]

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

[www.GymRats.uk]

We have encountered this occasionally in our cottage.

18th century 3 storey thing. Multiple chimneys on both sides of the house as it was formerly 2 houses of part of a terrace.

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.