Why aint my chimney drawing?

This is an all too common problem. Sometimes there is a very obvious problem and soloution and other times it can baffle the experts. Some flues work that shouldn't and some flues don't work that should. Is it an art or a science? I'm not qualified to answer but I can give some obvious pointers especially if your in the design/build stage. How flues work is pretty basic the gases from the fire are hotter than the surounding air and therefore rise. As they rise the fire pulls in more air to complete combustion thats why every appliance that burns should have a good air supply through a vent or similar. Not having enough fresh air will effect the draught of the chimney and could lead to carbon monoxide and other gases being fed back into the room and slowly poisioning you. Some people will say how a chimney works when a door or window is left ajar etc and this is that principle in action. Some flues give problems at the start as they are cold and the gases inside the flue cool down too quick and stop rising. Some chimneys, often external chimney breasts are like this but are ok once the fire gets going.

If your using solid fuel you will see and smell this pretty quickly as your room fills with smoke. If it's a gas burning appliance you won't see or smell it but it will be there so do what Duncan Stauart says and check flues and vents regularly and get one of these guys a CO detector.Another common reason for faulty flues is the termination point of the flue it simply may not be high enough or be in a hollow etc. Another getting more common problem is an opening thats too big. Some people try to emulate the big open fires as seen in Period houses and castles like this.


The opening thats standard in Ireland in a finished fire placeis usually 16" or 18" across and 22" high. Before the fireplace is fitted you are looking at a hole in the wall of about 20" across. The flue liner used is often an 8" internal diameter but is often referred to as a nine inch flue and once it's a few metres high the chimney will probably draw with no problems assuming good air supply. the problems we see more and more is that the client now wants an opening to be 2 or 3 foot wide and the same high. This can be done but may need a 10" or 12" flue liner again depending on the overal height of the flue. ideally speak to your builer, architect. or engineer as your building. If your already past that stage you have three choices starting with the hardest.

1. Redo your chimney withe the correct size flue liner. ( big messy and expensive)
2. Attache a high powered fan to the top. ( Expensive and some noise issues)
3. Reduce the size of your opening or install a stove which would in essence be reducing the size of the fire.

Stoves are double edged when having flue trouble. If the issue is too large an ope it may solve it but a stove is 3 times as efficient and therefore has lower flue gas temperatures so may cause a problem but unlikely.

A stove may help but will not solve an inherent problem and will not stop down draught. The vents on the front of the stove that allow air in for combustion will also allow smoke out if the draught of the flue is reversed.
Get an expert to assess the flue before you purchase an appliance.

display stock

Amazing as it may seem we need to change some of our display stock and get ready for the winter season ahead. We have several mind blowing offers on a few limited fireplaces. One the "Reims" pictured above which is only suitable for gas or electric would normally retail at E2995 we have one only ex display at E1200. This includes fitting.

Our best salespeople

In these trying times everyone is trying to second guess the future. Will we have a winter like last year and will our oil bil be as high or lower. On some reports I have been reading the Russia/Ukraine supply problem for natural gas may be about to hit the headlines once again. The Ec have sent a delegation to report back to Barrosso. But the monies outstanding seem to be the main problem. "Naftogaz Ukrainy owes about $650 million to Gazprom for imports of an estimated 2.4 billion cubic meters of gas in May, according to the Center for Energy Research, an independent think-tank." (source Platts) .

Well we are way out west so the natral gas supply doesn't really affect us but unfortunatley it will. If energy prices in any sector climb over security of supply then all energy prices climb. Oil which the West in particular is very dependant on will certainly climb and that will happen regardless of how we are financially and all we need is a very cold winter like last year to send us into a real spin price wise.

How can we insulate ourselves from this problem?

Well actually the answers in the question first off insulate well, theres even grants for it now. Second after you have insulated don't leave a gaping 8" hole in your fireplace open. Either seal it up or if you use it regularly get an insert stove installed. How good are they? Don't ask us we are salespeople but ask our past customers and see their pictures on our wall in the showroom as they I firmly believe are our best salespeople.

Get your chimney cleaned

Now that it's summer time (ahem) it's the ideal time to sweep the chimney. Even if your appliance is gas you should have it checked and swept periodicly. The reason for this on gas appliances is to ensure there is no blockage in the flue that could lead to fumes coming back down the flue, even Duncan on TV advises getting it done.
If your appliance is solid fuel either an open fire or a stove its crucial as it will impact on the performance of the appliance but if not done could lead to chimney fires. The reason for a chimney fire is that soot builds up in the flue and gradually over the years accumulates and heats up everytime you have a fire. Eventually this takes light and then increases the draw of the chimney drawing up for unburnt fumes from the fire below which then ignit in the flue and increase this happening again. It's self perpetuating and thats what gives the roar associated with chimney fires. When the fire brigade come they will know what to do but you could end up with a cracked flue pipe and need to reline the flue costing major money as well as pay for the fire brigade call out.
Get it swept which leads me nicely on to our new promotion. Buy an insert stove this summer and we will sweep your chimney before we start, free, gratis and for nothing. At the end of the day it makes sense.

High temp plaster

More and more customers are looking for hole in the wall solid fuel fires and of course we are only too happy to sell them. Theres always a proviso and here it is. The look of these units stems from the gas fired units. The solid fuel units give off a lot more heat and can on occasion crack the plaster surrounding the insert stove.

This can be caused by several reasons.

1. The fires lit have been too big too fast and cracked the plaster instead of gradually having a bigger fire each time.
2. The wall or plaster or screed below the plaster had not fully dried out and when heat was added the moisture expanded cracking the wall.
3. The heat generated was just too much for the gypsum plaster.

So we usually say to our customers ensure a high temperature plaster is used around the stove area. When they ask their plasterer or builders merchant for this they are often left with a blank stare and told no such item exists. Well here it is and can be bought directly from the website.

www.vitcas.com

I should add we are not endorsing this particular manufacturer in any way and all the rules regarding proper drying out and gradual adding of heat still apply. The company also advocates using a high temp screed before the plaster and while it's certainly more expensive than ordinary gypsum plaster you are only covering a small area.

On a mission

Help us kill off the open fire?

I have often espoused the benefits of a stove over an open fire even though they make up a good portion of our business. So we are gonna take a bit of a risk here and try and get every fireplace we sell to be a closable one. The benfits are huge and obvious if you read any of the posts below. But lets bring it back to money for every one of these



you spend on fuel for your fire this on average is how much you get for it in heat.



Put in a stove instead and you get eight euro back in heat.
On top of that you no longer lose heat up the chimney when you have no fire on. So many people spend a lot of money on insulation to stop heat loss and rightly so but then leave a gaping hole in the front room losing heat 24 hours a day seven days a week.
Convinced yet? Not only are you saving money you are also helping the environment.

Now heres the kicker I'm trying to sell stoves so I have an agenda here.
My best advice is go find someone who bought a stove from us and ask them. Come into our showroom and see the pictures on our wall of people who were so happy with their stove they let us go out and photograph it and let us put it on our wall. then join our wall of fame yourself and start saving.