A dangerous stove installation !

muckybutt

I was horrified the other day !, I had a call to go and sweep a chimney...fair enough, the chimney / fireplace had just had a clearview stove installed into it by a Hetas registered company. My client said that when they lit the fire that evening the whole room filled with smoke ? so he phoned the company and they said to get it swept....after its been installed ???

Anyhow I went to sweep it and upon inspection through the flue pipe I saw it was completely blocked by a nest / twigs etc.

The chimney had been lined by concrete liner so was approx 10" wide - the flue pipe being 6" so there was no way that ammount of stuff was going to come out of a stove pipe, advised customer to get in touch with fitter again to get them to a) remove the stove and b) fit a soot box.

Company said to customer "you dont need a soot box !" so ok then how do they expect a sweep to clean a 10" dia chimney through a 6" hole ?

Moving on ....I went back the other day as the stove had been removed giving clean access to the chimney, I was horrified that it was'nt just a bit of a blockage it was solid for nearly 3m, 3m of twigs - sticks - straw - moss and muck of all kinds, infact when it was all down it filled a builders wheelbarrow !
All that from a chimney that was supposedly signed off and finished to building control standards by a Hetas registered company, I shudder to think of the consequences of either the chimney catching fire or worse still co poisoning.

gas4you

Sadly and dangerously, the general public only seem to relate co poisioning, and the risk of it, to gas appliances, rather than realise ANY fossil fueled appliance can be at risk of it if not installed and maintained properly

crphillips

There's an insane amount of people that ask me 'does my stove give off CO?'

My reply is always.......yes.....around 700 times more CO than a gas appliance! They're always surprised. We always sweep the flue before installing a stove unless it looks obviously clean and we always light a test fire following completion of the install. Customer should report the company.

Swipe

Yes, I concur. Anyone with a stove should go out and spend £20 on a CO alarm tomorrow. It's crazy not to.

crphillips

Due to the updated building regs as of October it's going to be compulsory for the installer of a solid fuel appliance to install a CO alarm in the room.

sassy_one

Trading Standards for the person who installed the stove!

Ada3050

I have a co alarm in the room with my cast iron fire place in.
For a few £ it just isn't worth messing around.

As for the installer of this stove, should be reported.

hethmar

Would mention that some Clearviews are swept through the stove - we did once have a customer ring to say his sweep had told him his stove chimney liner couldnt be swept - it was a 400 which is swept through the stove - having told him this, the sweep returned and swept. However, your client should have the warranty. certificates and manufacturer's handbook to know this. It is also a requirement for a stove to have sweep access (as per HETAS cert)if not in the stove pipe.

Sometimes customers are surprised by "smoke" in the room when they first have a roaring fire after installation but this is the stove paint curing - we always tell customers this to warn them and also it does say it in the handbook, but we still get an occasional one ringing up panicking that smoke is in the room.

However, its seems incredible that any fitter didnt check the chimney first see it was blocked and ask for it to be swept prior to installation. They should also have commissioned/tested the fire as that is another requirement of the certificate. And yes, HETAS should be contacted with a complaint.

Re CO monitors, we have to stock up on boxes full of them now ready for October's requirement.

muckybutt

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Thats what came down !

A._Badger

muckybutt wrote: »

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Thats what came down !

Thanks for the reminder of how careful you need to be - even with some supposedly reputable installers!

hethmar

Dreadful Mucky - take it they hadnt used the chimney in yonks then OH sometimes gets 5 big sackfulls of soot out of chimney which the owners tell him have been swept regularly bit of a pain when he is geared up for lining, not faffing around doing the sweeping first aswell.