Fireplace & draughts

[paul.wordingham]

Hi,

I have a 30's semi with a cast-iron fireplace in which I burn a mixture of hardwood & coal. The fire burns great, but I experience a lot of druaghts being drawn through the house when the fire is burning, as air is drawn up the chimney. The draughts are primarily coming though the kitchen, as the house is double glazed, causing the kitchen to get pretty cold on a winters evening. I was thinking on how I can introduce some fresh air for the fire, near the fireplace, to try to reduce cold air being drawn through the house.

The ground floor is floor boards on a suspended floor, and I was wondering if I could cut a ventilation slot in front of the fire and put one of those louvred ventilation things into the slot. Would this help to reduce the draught through the house or not ? Has anyone else got any cunning ideas ?

Thanks in advance

Paul...

[Rob Morley]

That's the standard solution, but you'll normally find the vent in the alcove between the chimney breast and the outside wall.

[Chris McBrien]

If you do fit that extra vent pipe to feed the fire make sure it slopes 'UP' to the fire to stop any water coming in. Also a fine grid to stop beasties etc. from entering.

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[andrewpreece]

I'm going to do this for exactly the same reasons. As another poster wrote, it'll need a wire gauze across it to prevent beasties crawling up, and of course be closeable when not in use. The only thing that I can add, is that I read somewhere that it is preferable to use two vents, at either side of the fire, rather than one directly in front. Maddeningly I can't remember what the reasoning was. Oh, and there is a legal requirement for the cross sectional area of theair inlet to a room with a conventional flue, ISTR that it is something like 100sq.cm.???

Andy.

[VisionSet]

And I'm sure if it is put in to meet BR's it can't be closeable.

[andrewpreece]

You could arrange to have closeable vents near the fire, and have a fixed

100sq.cm. vent through to the kitchen or hallway. When the fire is lit simply open the closeable vents and I imagine the bulk of the air will preferentially be drawn through these. I have something like a 140sq.cm. gap underneath my living room door ( not sure the regs would be happy using that as a vent, but nonetheless it works ( aside from the icy draught it allows to billow across the living room floor ).

I'm not sure that there is a real safety problem with coal/wood fires anyway, you can smell them if the chimney blows smoke back, and its's not terribly toxic anyway. Plus, a shortage of draw will throttle back the fire automatically. It would be an unusually well-sealed house that ran into problems because it didn't have a vent.

Andy.

[VisionSet]

Absolutely, screw the regs for personal use, just nice to be aware so you don't do anything too hard to undo for resale. I have to stick a vent in for my new gas fire, in an old draughty house and with a fire that turns itself off when the O2 level drops by a gnats c*ck. "I'm afraid your colander is not leaky enough sir, please install a 'regulation drop your veg on the floor BS1234 doobry'". I'll pop it in, then pop it right back out again, before mr corgi has got his wheels off my drive. Better still, where are my emigration papers for as far away from Brussels as you can get, away from this godforsaken, molly coddling, cotton wool society.

Or is this business so last year now?

-- Mike W

[andrewpreece]

Hehe, yes this is a place where I'll be leaving in a box, I think! Gas is a little trickier than solid fuel, I wonder how our corgi regs inspectors would cope with an Anglosaxon roundhouse, complete with central bonfire and an optional hole in the thatched roof! My feeling is that as long as the regulation is unenforceable, and I understand the reasons behind it, then I feel able to exercise free will over whether I observe it or not. I've even done 35mph in a 30mph limit zone - aren't I irresponsible!

Andy.