Chimney and fire place advice

whiskywhisky

Hi

Please can someone help with some chimney and fireplace advice for me, this is for a house we have recently moved into.

- Firstly it has 2 chimneys, which were fully open to the elements when we moved in. Due to the house being freezing cold we fitted a "chimney balloon" to both to stop the draft coming in as we do not use either chimney.
- I have very basic knowledge in this area, and assume it needs a cap on to chimney pot, they look open. As when it rains we can hear rain droplets falling? which I guess are falling on the balloon and are causing a bit of damp on the plaster.

We are still trying to recover from all the moving costs, therefore currently are unable to get the experts in to advise. Looking at the chimney pots on the roof, unfortunately they seem very, very difficult to access. Both chimney are in the middle of the house and very high, no way willl I think a ladder reach. What do people or the experts use to counter this if installing a pot cover to stop the rain falling down? is it scaffolding?

Sorry for the long post, additionallly our long term plan (when affordable) is to have heating from both these open fireplaces. I like the idea of a woodburner, if the wood can be cheaper or even on par than gas and the wife would like gas due to the cleaniness.

Sorry if this is a silly question, but trying to save money what shoud I do? Is it best to get experts in to scaffold and install a pot cover? or maybe look into gas fires that can be installed with a vertical flue (think this is what they are called)which may already has a cover for the rain?

Finally is to possible or advisable to get a dual gas/wood fireplace? never seen such a thing.

Thanks

Leif

I'm sure wood will not be cheaper than gas, quite the opposite, unless you have a source of free or cheap wood. And for a stove wood has to be well seasoned, meaning you store it for a year or two before burning.

Ken68

Go for gas Whisky, cleaner though less cosy.
I had chimney covers put on a couple of years ago. Look in Amazon For CHimney C covers.£18.55 each. I paid £110 for three including fitting. Just a standard double ladder to eves and then a roof ladder. Professional firm.

Ectophile

Firewood is only cheap if you can scrounge it for free. Otherwise, mains gas is about the cheapest fuel there is.

See http://www.nottenergy.com/energy_cost_comparison/

That said, you can't beat a real fire on a cold winter's evening!

muckybutt

Hi WW - contact a few local chimney sweeps many of us do roof / chimney work so that would be an easy enough job, plus they already have all the kit to get access, if it is a pig to get to then a ncherry picker would be the next best option,but any sweep will talk you through the options.

Thinking down the line, if you do decide to go with a multi fuel / wood burner you will need to change the caps and possibly reline the chimney as well. Depending what you go for there you would be looking from £1100 + for install and fitting as a rough guide.

No such thing over here as a gas / multi fuel stove i'm afraid.

whiskywhisky

Thanks for the advice - guess my best or only choice is gas, which is fine.

Just to clarify my question, is it a waste of money to get the chimney caps put on now if in several months (year at the most) we can afford to get a gas fire put in?

muckybutt

If its only going to be a few months till you get the fire / s reinstated then I wouldnt bother tbh, however I would remove the baloons form the chimney to stop the damp building up, they will still need ventillation other wise you will get even more damp building up.

new_owner

Ectophile wrote: »

Firewood is only cheap if you can scrounge it for free. Otherwise, mains gas is about the cheapest fuel there is.

See http://www.nottenergy.com/energy_cost_comparison/

That said, you can't beat a real fire on a cold winter's evening!

Have you seen the prices that guide is using!!!

I pay around 33% less than that for seasoned let alone unseasoned and then season yourself. In which case I save over 50% compared to the prices used.

Which would (excuse the pun) make it cheaper than gas.

There guide price is £109 per m3 for seasoned...I am buying 3 x 1m3 for £200

perfecta1

new_owner wrote: »

Have you seen the prices that guide is using!!!

I pay around 33% less than that for seasoned let alone unseasoned and then season yourself. In which case I save over 50% compared to the prices used.

Which would (excuse the pun) make it cheaper than gas.

There guide price is £109 per m3 for seasoned...I am buying 3 x 1m3 for £200

do you see any difference in cost of heating the house? Is it really worth to pay 1000 pounds for installing wood burning stove?

I am just curious as I have a central heating at home but pay huge amount of money for gas and temperature hardly reaches 17 degrees.

new_owner

perfecta1 wrote: »

do you see any difference in cost of heating the house? Is it really worth to pay 1000 pounds for installing wood burning stove?

I am just curious as I have a central heating at home but pay huge amount of money for gas and temperature hardly reaches 17 degrees.

My downstairs is around 23 degrees

But you do need to guess how much wood you will need. I go through about 2-2.5m3 of wood so just under £200 per year + £35 gas per month (this is over the winter (Nov-March (looks like this year it will be the end of March) and inc cooking)

When it gets to hot downstairs I open doors to heat the rest of the house.

I have an 8Kw stove with an open plan downstairs (I was recommended a 5kw but I am glad I ignored it)

But I also insulated the hell out of the loft and underfloor.

As heating costs go i am very happy. My total costs are lower than most peoples now and I have found a good supplyer of wood.

Tip; Buy unseasoned hardwood (or even part seasoned) and store outside in a log store (Build yourself) and the savings are even higher than what is quoted above.

All in all my heating costs are around £300 for the entire winter (assuming this one finishes soon).. But it is not as easy as setting the timer, you do have to store the wood and chop, stack, fetch etc but I would not be without it.

perfecta1

thanks very much for replying.


it's not a big fuss for my husband to bring wood and start the fire so I don't mind the work associated with it.

How about starting the fire? Can you feel smoke in the house? Have you got marks on the wall where the stove is?