What do I need for an open fire?

loveka

We have just had our 1750 inglenook fireplace opened up. It was hiding behind a vile stone fireplace which had not had a real fire in it for at least 40 years.

The previous owner had capped off the chimney ( he lied to us about this but that's another story!). So the costs have spiralled and we just can't afford the wood burning stove element of the project (£2k).

So I have decided on an open fire for now. I have seen in our local pub a fire basket at the back of a similar size inglenook.

What else do I need?

The chimney will be sound and swept. Is it as simple as putting the basket in and away we go?

I am not bothered about the heat element, it's really for the appearance until we can afford the log burner.

We have scaffolding up at the moment. Should we get the chimney lined?

Thanks!

glentoran99

We wanted an open fire in our new house, (there was one already there) but when we got the guys out to install a new one the current regulations for them to do so would have required a lot of work, Widening flue etc, The stove ended up being a much cheaper option as the extra building work wasn't required

Gloomendoom

Try it and see. If you are lucky, the smoke will go up the chimney. If not, it will fill the room.

keith969

At the least when you get the chimney uncapped, get a decent cowl fitted.

When I had my stove fitted, they tested it for airlow with something like this:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/rothenberger-smoke-pellets-13g-pack-of-6/75449?kpid=75449&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&gclid=Cj0KEQiAwrbEBRDqxqzMsrTGmogBEiQAeSE6ZWh9sySIR0yOHit5OvBjAjOqEk8VXxTHVW5YKlwt3ucaAkMr8P8HAQ

haf1

Try it and see. If you are lucky, the smoke will go up the chimney. If not, it will fill the room.

Also hope there are no cracks in the chimney breast further up.

FreeBear

loveka wrote: »

We have scaffolding up at the moment. Should we get the chimney lined?

It makes sense to drop a liner down the chimney and fit a decent cowl whilst you have the scaffold in place. Doing it later will incur extra costs. But you really do need to know what size of flue is recommended for your planned stove, and it probably wouldn't be any good with an open fire. A liner will still be a significant chunk of money for a good quality one.

As a stop gap measure, you could try picking up a dirt cheap stove off ebay - They often go for peanuts, especially if it is "collect only". Once you've saved enough for your chosen stove, you can sell the old one on.

loveka

We are getting all the work done to the chimney etc to ready it for a wood burning stove, so the chimney will be in perfect condition.

It's the installation and cost of the stove that we can't afford now, so even a cheap one would need installing.

I just don't know what I am meant to actually put in the opening to make it work. Is a cowl important for an open fire to work?

Carer

All you need is a firebasket. Nothing else needed to make it work.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/fire-grate

robatwork

A decent chimney sweep will test that the smoke is being drawn upwards rather than a downdraft. They should even give you a certificate stating that.

This won't test if smoke is ingressing into the mortar however - it's been years since I had an open fire but I would expect a sweep to have a decent swan neck camera on his brooms now so you can inspect the chimney.

Gloomendoom

loveka wrote: »

I just don't know what I am meant to actually put in the opening to make it work. Is a cowl important for an open fire to work?

No. We have an inglenook fireplace and I can stand up in the chimney. It's lined with mud and terminates in a large rectangular opening at the top of the stack. A child could probably climb all the way up and out on to the roof.

You don't need to put anything in the opening. Just light a fire on the hearth under the chimney.

A fireguard is a good idea. So is a CO alarm.

keith969

loveka wrote: »

Is a cowl important for an open fire to work?

Nope. But if you've got scaffolding up, you might as well sort out the chimney while its there.