My log burning stove doesn?t seem to be drawing as well as it used to. Before we had our chimney lined I used a standard chimney brush and rods but now that it?s got a liner I?m wondering if I ought to invest in a new brush system to avoid damaging the liner.
Anyone used anything like this?
I assume you?ve not had your chimney swept since getting the log burner?
We considered a log burner several years ago and did some research. One of the things we were told was the chimney would need sweeping at least once a year, if not twice, depending on choice of logs.
Well yes, but that wasn?t the question?
Tim
With an insulated stainless steel liner and only occasional use that can be several years.
I know my bedroom one is clear because the crows fall all the way to the bottom and keep me awake until they die.
Can't get them past the baffle. They burn up when the fire gets lit OK too.
the 'draw' of the stove varies *massively* with wind speed.
Particulates. So, can all that carbon be used for something? Dug into the soil perhaps? Brian
Why don't you get a grid fitted to the top of the chimney? A 2cm grid stops all birds falling through (though unfortunately it makes no difference to the pigeons perching on top of the chimney and cooing for several noisy minutes).
Actually, I'm surprised to hear that crows fall down the chimney; I thought they were too smart for that. Must be a pretty wide chimney, too.
I've seen a few chimneys with side-exit cowling which rotates with the wind and always points away from the wind direction. I assume that always results in a strong draught.
Last year I had one down the wood burner and I think three or for down the open fires that crapped their way round the dining room and living room before I could let them out.
from memory the stove is a 6" dia. flue and the main ones are 12" square , all with pots on top.
I think that probably is to stop back draughts. wind speed still is everything with fires
But with regular use it is certainly a good idea to have it swept at least once a year. We skipped last year due to Covid but I can get a very clean burn on good dry logs so I am not too bothered. I usually have it swept just before the winter season to remove any accumulated junk the crows may have dropped down it in the summer.
Chimney fires of wood burning stoves are impressive and surprisingly noisy when the tars on the inner surface of the lining pipe go up. Looks a bit like an oversize Bunsen burner with a flame out the top.
A neighbour who was a retired fireman had his go up a few years back. The local fire tender that turned up the team fell about laughing when they realised whose chimney fire they were putting out!
I have only ever had sparrows and blackbirds fall down mine. They are small enough to get past the heat exchanger pipes into the grate. Main problem is getting them out without allowing them to zoom around the room. If they get loose they leave sooty marks colliding with furniture.
Mine is just a rain shield. It is fairly windy here too so there is usually a good draw on the fire.
The chimney for our oil burning boiler always had a cage fited at the top. This turned out to be an attractive perch for crows etc and eventuall their weight caused it to collapse into the top of the chimney where they then tried building a nest on it. This blocked the chimney and the following winter I was awakened by my wife shouting at me from the far ned of the living room. I awoke to find the room gradually filling with a foul yellowish coloured smoke. The boiler house is integral with the house and while it is solid concrete all the way round top and bottem the genius of a builder had inserted a short piece of plastic pipe in the ceiling for ease of pulling cable or whatever, This gave the smoke access to the area between the two floor and thence into the living room. En route it destroyed the bedroom carpet, the dressing room carpet, and the room decoration. I never worked out why it only materialised in these rooms. All in all a bloody mess which could have been a lot worse. I told my wife whe missed her chance:-(
On our dual fuel stove it's very noticeable that the 'smokeless' coal leaves far more ash and deposits than wood. I have to clean the windows regularly and empty the ash daily with coal but with wood it can go several days without attention.
Several sources, including a firefighter, recommended regular clearing for log burners.
I like the smell of log burners. It always seem relaxing. A neighbour has one.
I will probably get 'sooty' in to sweep the three fires I have used over the last two years - wood burner, living room fire and the Aga..
mine only smells outside the house, but round here everyone is burning wood., there is lots lying around.
I have even smelt coal being burned in the village, too.
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Last week we had to have our log burner repaired (usual silly Scandi "design over function" construction). Chatting to the repairer he showed me a metal crosspiece intended to be fitted diametrically across the chimney where it entered the stove. He said it was to protect the stove baffle from the sweeping brush head, and added that the UK was almost unique in having chimneys swept from the fire end. On the continent, particularly Poland, the sweep went up onto the roof and swept downwards
- hence the need to protect the baffle if they forgot to remove it when sweeping.
If you?ve ever had a jackdaw fill your chimney with twigs, you?ve never leave you chimney unprotected again.
Tim
I had a pigeon down the chimney. We phoned the SSPCA and one of the officers came round, rescued the pigeon, put it in a box and took it away to the rehab centre.
That might have been what they were trying to do, when they fell down
But the chimblies have been there 20 years now and no ones built a nest up there yet...I had an owl fall down last year too. lovely little young tawny. Should have made him a pet - he could have kept the mice out
Have you got a cowl fitted? I dealt with a block of flats with a pellet boiler which was overworked and this had peoblems because the 5" flue had been terminated with a gas cowl which became plocked.
I use:
Yes this strikes me as a better way except for LOLER probably making it expensive for a sweep in UK.
I would like to see a reasonably priced electrostatic filter built in to a cowl and this would need regular servicing which could be combined with a sweeping from the chimney top but I would imagine a sweep equipped to do work from height would charge several times the £45 that seems to be the going rate here.
Burning wood saves me about £500/annum, not including several days preparing and housing the wood, so sweeping charges can significantly affect that.
More likely to be jackdaws
Blimey. An elderly relative died at 90 after being rushed to hospital with a ruptured intestine caused by an undiagnosed bowel Ca.
Doctors did the usual blood tests and queried how many cigarettes she smoked because her blood CO was at the level of a 30/day smoker. She never smoked but the chimney on her Rayburn had been 'repaired' a few years earlier by someone who must have been a bodger, so it never 'drew' properly and filled the house up with black dust and presumably plenty of CO too.
It isn't burning with enough air then!
The main difference between burning wood and burning coal/smokeless in mine is that for wood the grate is closed and for coal it is open slats. The design is remarkably cunning. I lob a couple of big pieces of coal substitute in during the evening since it makes it much easier to relight from the embers.
Mine will produce considerably more heat when run entirely on coal but round here wood is abundant and so much cheaper. ISTR coal is no longer possible to buy here but until very recently it was...
Wood has a tendency to fade out overnight but the denser ash from pieces of coal/smokeless fuel keeps embers glowing nice and hot all night.
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