Is Fireplace Safe to use

jackit

I have a victorian flat and 2 years ago both chimneys were lined (for use with gas fires). Have not had the fires fitted yet. During the recent cold spell I have been wondering if its safe to burn coal in the fireplaces as I know it was going to be a different liner if I wanted coal fires. Can anyone advise?

Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

You appear to have answered your own question: if the chimney required a different liner for an open fire and you haven't had that installed then it's not safe. Or have I missed something here?

poppysarah

Probably not.

. Unfortunately the gas log/coal fire has different building requirement to the traditional log/coal fire. It has different requirements for ventilation, the flue and even the fire surround itself. Even more unfortunately, many of the gas log/coal fires were installed into fireplaces that were not suitable and indeed were down right lethal.
http://www.clearbuildingsurvey.co.uk/clearsurvey/viewStaticContent.do?page=houseDoctor/specificArticles/fireplaceRegulations.html

BitterAndTwisted

Smoke from a wood or coal fire is corrosive plus there's all the heat going up there as well: from a gas appliance it would not be, the liner in that case would be for ventilation for the most part.

jackit

The chimney was safe to use for coal before the liner went in. I was just wondering if the liner was just to make it safe for gas. However if there is any risk of carbon monoxide etc I would prefer not to use it in this way. Thanks to those who have responded.

poppysarah

Who said it was safe? it probably didn't meet current building regs for a fire ...

Without a proper lining monoxide could leak into rooms next to the chimney and kill you.

Get someone out to give you a professional opinion if you want to double check (Not sure who you got to install it, but maybe ask them again)

Place_of_Design

jackit wrote: »

I have a victorian flat and 2 years ago both chimneys were lined (for use with gas fires). Have not had the fires fitted yet. During the recent cold spell I have been wondering if its safe to burn coal in the fireplaces as I know it was going to be a different liner if I wanted coal fires. Can anyone advise?

Thanks

to be honest, your chimneys were designed for wood / coal when they were built, if you remove the linings (not a hard job), then they should still be still OK for coal / wood

You wil still need to get them assessed and inspected for damage and sutability

People get in a pickle about the current Reg's. Your Victorian property will fail current regs on just about everything, fact of life. No one will ask you to pull the property down based on Current Reg's

silvercar

We burn logs in our fire without any problem. The house was built in 1937 and I'm sure the fire has not been changed. If they burnt in 1937 without a problem then I'm not worried.

We did get a firepalce guy round when we were thinking of changing the fireplace and he told us the hearth wouldn't meet current regulations due to it not having a little wall around its edge in front of the fire and he didn't know if the material would pass a non- compustion test! solid bricks :rolleyes::rolleyes:

themole_2

I think you are best to seek professional advice. I don't know where you live but I would agree with Poppy search.... you need to know everything is done correctly. I know to my cost when we tried a DIY job on ours. In the end we had to call in the professionals and Mark Lloyd at MKFireplaces http://www.mikfireplaces.co.uk sorted it all out for us. We would have gone down the wrong way and ended up with a real mess on our hands. If you are in the northern home counties I would give him a ring. Good luck. Remember if you ever plan to sell you will need to comply with current HIP regulations so better get it right at the start.

silvercar

Remember if you ever plan to sell you will need to comply with current HIP regulations so better get it right at the start.

Wrong, you only need to comply with the regulations in force at the time of installation.