Wood burning stoves>

hethmar

John, we have seen chimneys virtually blocked after a customer burnt willow for just 3 weeks. Wouldnt touch it ourselves, and definitely not conifer. We burn ash for most of the time unless we cant get any then we go back to our three year old stock of oak.

It is a very frightening experience when you have a chimney fire and burning a stove on slumber mode with unsuitable wood is how the resin can build up in the flueway until its so thick a sweep's brushes will just go past it, not removing it. If youre lucky its just a lot of smoke and flapping around - if you are unlucky you can have bad structural damage or lose your roof.

I agree that if you get a certificate of attendance the next day something could block the chimney, fact is we are finding more and more insurance companies are requesting evidence of correct maintenance before they pay out for chimney fire damage and having a record of sweeping through certs is one way of proving same.

Mucky/badger - if you have any issues with installers not fitting properly or giving incorrect information, then please contact their associations - HETAS and/or NACE and report them. We are often called out by the Fire Service AFTER a fire to inspect others work and have found some horrendous workmanship.

John_3:16

Could do with some advice here.

We always burn hot never on slumber 90% of the time a good flame. We have a secondary burn process and always use timeber that is virtualy bone dry. The sweep comes once a year and we check the lower end of the chimney regular. What are the chances of a fire? It is not always possible to get the ideal wood so have to make do sometimes.

Often I check for smoke at the pot and when hot the stove produces very very little often no detection.

muckybutt

John_3:16 wrote: »

Could do with some advice here.

We always burn hot never on slumber 90% of the time a good flame. We have a secondary burn process and always use timeber that is virtualy bone dry. The sweep comes once a year and we check the lower end of the chimney regular. What are the chances of a fire? It is not always possible to get the ideal wood so have to make do sometimes.

Often I check for smoke at the pot and when hot the stove produces very very little often no detection.

Ideally you want it swept at least twice a year if its an unlined chimney and you are burning wood, wood is far dirtier and more likely to cause a fire if the creosote and tar deposits build up, I have found many customers dont / havent realised they have had a chimney fire until after the event. I had one customer who had a fire recently....due to them burning some really nice hard wood....wait for it....railway sleepers cut up into 8" logs, oh they burnt really well, hmmm that was a really stupid idea their fire caused all the plaste on the chimney to blow off it got that hot, looking up the chimney some of the bricks had even glazed, silly thing is they never called the fire service out they just let it burn !

hethmar

Oh yes, railway sleepers, thats one we have seen. Have to say tenants seem to burn a lot worse than owner occupiers, particularly if in the countryside and they always tell you their wood stock is dry and seasoned - until you feel how wet it is.

John, if you are a bit concerned about the quality of some of your wood in an unlined chimney, mix a bit of coal or smokeless fuel in with it til you get some good stuff.

A._Badger

hethmar wrote: »

Mucky/badger - if you have any issues with installers not fitting properly or giving incorrect information, then please contact their associations - HETAS and/or NACE and report them. We are often called out by the Fire Service AFTER a fire to inspect others work and have found some horrendous workmanship.

What's the point? If HETAS were functioning properly its members wouldn't be behaving like that in the first place.

In the course of purchasing my latest stove I lost count of the wrong information and sometimes deliberately misleading sales patter I was fed by supposedly reputable companies.

As I've said here before, I think the stove business has become a bit of a racket, driven by people's mistaken belief that they can get virtually free heating if they buy a stove. This buoyant market has sucked-in a lot of importers of dodgy stoves, lazy retailers who won't compete either on price or service, attempts to rig the market against online discounting retailers, mythologising installers and heaven knows what beside.

Like the other energy industries which are (effectively) self-regulating via profitable organisations, there is inevitably a vested interest in creating a monopoly and an ever-increasing stream of questionable regulations.

This isn't just an issue with solid fuel - it's just as much an issue with electrical installations and it's the consequence of a well-intentioned but wrong-headed government policy which seriously disadvantages consumers.

A._Badger

hethmar wrote: »

If you are a bit concerned about the quality of some of your wood, mix a bit of coal or smokeless fuel in with it.

I'm not picking on you, hethmar, but this is an example of precisely what I have been talking about with regard to confusing information.

According to other HETAS experts, you should never mix wood and coal, because combustion of the two together often creates sulphuric acid, which will even eat through a stainless steel liner.

When supposed experts differ, who are we supposed to believe?

hethmar

Badger, it wasnt a general bit of advice, the person concerned about his wood has no lining in the chimney (see above). We would definitely not recommend smokeless fuel with a stainless steel liner. Sometimes we have people contact us who are unable financially to just dispose of wood which they have paid for, nor can they afford to line their chimney. Sometimes it is the lesser of two evils for just a short term.

A._Badger

Now I am completely confused (and I bet I'm not alone). You say 'We would definitely not recommend smokeless fuel with a stainless steel liner.'

Isn't that precisely what most installers do recommend?

John_3:16

Not sure if i have mentioned what liner I have?( It is a clay pipe liner) But looking up the chimney what should I look for regarding warning signs for build up ect. I check the side walls look clean but black not resin build up. Can you advice as to my last post regarding how we burn our timber.

Many Thanks

hethmar

John, when you look up the chimney it should be dull, if you see shiny deposits then you have resin build up.

Badger, there are various grades of stainless steel, to avoid people getting, or choosing to be, confused - avoid smokeless fuel. Im not aware what other installers may recommend to you, but as you say you have been given bad information from them ............ The 904 twin walled liner is said to be perfectly ok for such fuel but as that type of liner has not been around for the full length of its warranty then we await its performance.

Im backing out of this thread now as we are very busy at this time of year - for full information please read the NACE and HETAS websites or google for details.