Tip for those with an open fire to save fuel!

mardatha

Damn Csarina what a pity you couldn't have swept it yourself, then at least you'd still have a fire for the winter. Our HA keeps upto date with new regulations and they are a pure and utter pain. They installed an airbrick in the livingroom wall behind me which was letting in a force 10 gale - forgetting that the windows and doors in these houses let in enough draught anyway, in a very windy and open situation at 1000ft. The whole street blocked them off.
Then they installed an extractor fan in the kitchen, left it switched on permanently, and put the switch on top of the kitchen units at ceiling height - and we have high ceilings. Everybody promptly got on ladders and switched the damn thing off at the wall, and left it off. If we need ventilation we can just open the window or the back door!
If we listened to "new regulations" we would never have made it through last winter lol. Either pneumonia or hypotherma would have carried us off. Yes in a block of well insulated flats, or a modern bunglaow, but not up here, it's not needed.

[Deleted User]

I still intend to use the fire, our other heat is econ 7, very badly named in my opinion!!

We did have the air brick put in, its in a corner where it will affect neither of us, but the CM monitor does concern me not a little, also we need to get the chimney pot sorted so we get a better draw when the fire is lit.

The flue itself is ok. Once I get some fire bricks (coal savers) to make the grate a bit smaller and I am sure the wood we bought is properly seasoned it will be full steam ahead.

Our bungalow is a prefab that has had a brick skin built round it, there is insulation in the attic but not in the walls. Also we live in a vale, which means that the wind passes over rather than round us, one reason why the chimney does not draw properly. We do have double glazing, Which you can say is either a curse or a blessing!!