If you have wood burning you need to get a chimney thermometer.Make sure you run it at 150 to 250 degrees C to avoid tar.I have had a multi fuel stove for 19 years that I installed my self. The flue is a brick built in 1977 , when the house was built, lined with 9 inch concrete pipes so it is Class 1 flue. This was specified by the buyer before the house was built. I have to remove the stove to clean chimney properly and I use a wire brush on rods to sweep to remove any tar deposit as burning wood even at a hot temperature will leave some tar. In winter I burn Super therm smokeless fuel that I buy on line by the ton . I stocked up this summer with 4 Tons, what a move. Great video though for houses with not proper new chimney. As for pollution, politicians have made higher emissions flying about the globe talking about it than my stove in 19 years.

As a retired engineer who had an agency in Ireland for both Rayburn and Stanley cookers and solid fuel stoves. We commissioned, repaired and Carried out warranty work. I totally agree with all thats stated, one of the biggest problems we came across was poorly installed flues and chimneys. Especially when the chimney terminated beneath the apex of the roof. Many an architect would insist that the chimney system installed on a new house complied with building regs. However, even though that may often be the case, a chimney terminating beneath the apex of a roof as far as Rayburn and Stanley are concerned is a no. If a chimney terminates below the apex, under certainly wind conditions a down draft can occur. We also came across many problems were Tar had oozed out of the base of the chimney and as stated that was due to the chimney being cold. It’s so important to line the chimney almost more important than anything else. it’s especially so when burning wood or turf, as they do in Ireland, coal isn’t quite as much of a problem because of its very low water content.

My cheap Chinese import that I installed myself 9 years ago, has outlasted atleast 3 European built stoves that my uncle had professionally installed at considerable expense. I did not need a flue liner but I installed one for peace of mind. Yes I have 2 monoxide alarms just incase, and sweep it before use in autumn and after finished in spring. Point is I saved £2,500 doing it myself, and it is still going strong. Keeps my house warm burning wood and coal, yes burn it hot at least once a week to help rid the crap from the flue liner... all this stuff about air pollution is really just the establishment not being able to charge you tax on the 'free' wood you get to heat your home...

As a registered installer, I always recommend to my customers that they only use KILN dried wood. Seasoned/wet wood creates creosote, this fuel lines the flue and is a main cause of chimney fires. I highly recommend wood burners, they are now burning efficiently, they can increase your house value, they are proven to be good for MH and relaxation! :)

Love your presentation and reality check. My neighbour decided that he would construct a big stove wood burner in a shed attached to his workshop to burn the waste wood from his business and workshop with a 3m smoke stack. I warned him it would be illegal and unwise to do this since it was downwind to our house and very close to us. On the day he first lit it without warning us what he had done it filled our house with toxic smoke from the waste and in a trench I was working in and almost killed me with the fumes and my wife was almost suffocated. We had oxygen in our home for medical emergencies along with other equipment. I dispatched my wife away and I stayed to try and seal the house until he got the burner under control and save his shed from going up in flames. He was very apologetic and more so when his insurance company paid us compensation for the time we needed to recover from the respiratory damaged we incurred.

My old man came up against the tar problem when he put a multifuel stove in. He was burning wood as he could get it for free. His solution was to go to the post office and get some old mail bags, sew them into a tube, put that down the chimney fill it with sand. Then he got an old bath to mix up vermiculite which he put down the gap between chimney and tube. He tamped it down with a home made crescent shaped tamper. My job was to keep a supply of vermiculite coming up the plank onto the roof. I think I was 10.The hardest part was getting the sand out the tube. That was 40 years ago. Every time I sweep the chimney a little more vermiculite comes out but its still doing the job.

Great video I have been there and learnt the lesson about not lining, first the ‘creosote’ leached through the lime morter (you do get a pretty pattern of the brick work on the plaster) then it spreads through the plaster. Managed to push a flexible 5’’ stainless steel liner up from the living room below. I sweep the chimney twice a year and have done for the last decade and its still going strong, as it is the only source of heat in the house it needs to work flawlessly.

A timely video, the rendering popped off the chimney over the winter leaving just the scratch coat, a project for later in the year. Always enjoy your videos always informative never boring.

A lot of this makes sense. I have been using a woodburner for years and am very particular about log seasoning. I have a fairly modern property with a chimney liner, and I tend to sweep my chimney every other year because I am confident in the type and quality of logs I use. I do have a lot of spruce logs now which will probably generate a bit of resin.

Hello Roger, I seem to be attracted to all your vids whether they address issues on present jobs or future projects but I also watch your content that I'll never be bothered with like a wood burner and they are all interesting. I'm 62 and been distroying it yourself all my mortgage burdened life as most of us do who have a bit of something about them. I'm a source of amusement among friends and family regarding tools. My tool disease manifested itself I think from being an hgv mechanic for 30 years, I just love em 😍😂🤣. One thing I have learned though is knowledge of "Stuff" like in this vid will at some point come in handy because processes and knowledge seems to bleed across trades in the strangest of circumstances, so no matter how obscure keep doing your vids cause I will and I'm sure millions of others will watch and love em. Oh yeah‼️ ⌚ for another rant me finx 😁😎 One last thing send the other legend James my regards, wish him well and tell him he's sorely missed. Thanx for your time and knowledge.

guilty of having two stoves, one recently added due to rising fuel cost, love them and a great addition to the house, strange how attitudes and fashion changes on how we like to have our housing. once again very informative vlog , thanks

Down under in Australia, I have two wood burners. It’s my only form of heating and I burn wood, soft and hardwood. I burn about 8months a year! Always got a kettle on the stove and a small thermo electric fan, no power needed and spreads the heat around. It’s how we dry our clothes in the winter aswell

Roger, I really appreciate your video. You are an excellent communicator, and certainly know your business. Your delivery is always easy to assimilate, and your explanation of the reasons why certain features exist underpins the wise advice. Great stuff.

I will burn anything I can get my hands on if it means keeping warm or not.

As always great information and details. I had a chimney rendered because the brick faces were blowing in the frost and landing all over the place. It was then painted it in mortar paint and It lasted for years no problems . Someone I knew blew his glass out but shutting down the air too much before the fire had got hot . It made a massive sooty mess . Apparently you can ignite the gas in your chimney and course an explosion enough to course significant damage.

My stove is DEFRA-exempt with an afterburner system to burn the smoke, the stainless steel flu liner is surrounded by vermiculite. I dry all my wood correctly and test it for moisture. Cannot afford any other form of heating, I am careful with my wood, I have to procure, cut chop and season myself, so if I overuse and run out I have to just go to bed in a coat. I would defy any ban because I have no other option. And I did do all the work myself but did it all to correct HETAS standards. And even if I suddenly became a millionaire, out of principle I would not use energy from the grid system after how they have treated people, making excess profits out of a crisis.

Thanks Roger, Really clear and well explained, plenty of watch outs. I’m having a wood burner professionally installed so it’s good to know the limitations and what I should look for when getting quotations for the job. 👍 I’m really enjoying your no nonsense presentations.

When we moved into our house it had an open fire (very inefficient) but soon realised it was leaking through the mortar joints into the rooms upstairs. Ended up getting the chimney ceramic lined and it’s been working great ever since, even with the multi fuel stove we now have installed.

Hi Roger a topic that is becoming more and more relevant , luckily my house was built with a chimney for a wood burner . It’s made of interlocking clay pots surrounded by concrete , with a York stone block cladding which in themselves are roughly 8x8x18 inc . So you could say the chimney is pretty bomb prof

Great video Rog as usual. I have a chimney which is on the gable of my 18th century stone farmhouse. Replaced the old wood burning stove last year and we used standard stainless steel 6" flue liner. Flue had never caused a problem with the old stove but there is not enough draw with the new stove which is a ultra efficient DEFRA approved Clock 8kw. In hindsight, we should have insulated the liner as I'm sure its getting too cold in a biggish void. The HETAS guy took a bit of a chance based on me telling him the old liner was fine without insulation. Says he can come back and take down the closure plate and push insulation up from the bottom and around the flue. Sounds tricky and will add some cost to the job but I hope it works.

Great video. Im going to be opening up and utilising the chimneys in a victorian house im moving to (economical and aesthetic reasons) this has given me some good food for thought.

Thanks for all your videos. I’ve learned a lot from them. It might be worth mentioning that flue brush kits are not like drain rods with a brush but are only about 8 mm diameter with a floppy brush head that opens up when centrifugal force created by a decent cordless drill is applied. Ideal for chimneys with bends. But a great deal of care must be taken to ensure hat the rods don’t uncouple in use and some are lost inside the flue and can be extremely difficult to retrieve Worth mentioning also that some chimneys must have bends. In older house like mine the living room, dining room and two bedrooms above all had fires in the centres of them but the four chimney pots are in the centre of the roof and the chimneys must bend. As for ventilation, there are some excellent stoves with an integral air duct leading through an external wall to outside. This is especially important in a double glazed, draught proof house and negates the need for providing legally required ventilation. A farmer friend who has a mature plantation of softwood trees that frequently blow over, cuts them into logs and puts them into dumpy bags to dry!!!!! Within 12 months the new stove was belching fumes into the room. Long story short: the wet softwood produced tar that condensed on the cool chimney stack and pot, so much so that all that was left in the 8 “ diameter pot was a hole in the hardened tar of about 2”. It had to be chiselled out about four feet down to get the stove to work again. Softwoods are a bad idea for fuel It really is important to understand and take seriously the fact that stove should be seen not as brutal open fires but as carefully calibrated machines whose flues and chimneys form part of a precise system and things like leaving the doors open results in a massive excess of oxygen which cause a huge increase i combustion temperatures that results in buckling of stoves and their components. It is also reckless to use stoves as incinerators not just because of pollutants but the harm that some materials due to flues when burned

The problem with the corrugated liner is that it provides a perfect trap for tar and thus for a chimney fire in the future - better to have a smooth face liner - one that has tongue and groove type joins. A special sealant for the joins will stop the smoke escaping into any voids. If you can't do it yourself get a good bricky and supervise them or you will end up with standard mortar and lumps of mortar left in the flue liner and blocking the air flow!! Only use softwood as kindling to light the fire and then use hardwood to burn. Softwood with their resins will tar up the chimney in a much shorter period. Letting the fire 'tick-over' increases the risk of tarring - need the heat from the fire to burn the tar off. Use a drill on the end of the chimney sweep poles - at slow speed - provides a much cleaner sweep. The idea with the 'kink' in the chimney is to prevent the rain going directly into the fire - use a suitable chimney cowl to prevent the birds nesting there and stop the rain pouring in.

I have 2 solid fuel stoves in my house which I use every winter with dried hardwood. There is virtually no smoke so I get really angry when I hear about attempts to ban them with the excuse of "pollution"

Excellent informed and nicely thoughtfully nuanced with years of real world behind it, thank you Mr Roger ..

I put my own logburner in, a 9kW Woodwarm unit, best thing I ever done. Got advice on the flue design from the manufacturer and fitted a new stainless steel twin wall flue where the old chimney used to be. I sought expert advice and did the job properly myself about 6 years ago. I refused to pay the £3-4000 that various installers wanted plus cost of burner. I have a couple of CO2 monitors, correct ventilation fitted under the floor, really pleased with it. Swept once a year but the sweep guy says because of the quality wood we burn the flue isn't very dirty, nevertheless I have a bit of paper to say its done each year. Unfortunately though, I think it's days are numbered, missus wants a loft conversion and the flue is right in the way. 😢

Never mind what the local Authority says keep warm this winter and the rest.

Thankyou Roger B for that masterclass on chimneys. Believe me when I say that Aus does get cold and we burn a lot of Aussie hardwood(tough stuff). Great advice for those with chimneys, I demolished mine (shocking design) and rely now on burning the fossil fuels in the up country power station (to power my reverse cycle aircon ) !

Had our wood warm fireview 6 kw in our thirties semi for a dozen years. Great stoves, made in Devon. Works very well, I burn mainly dry oak. Got a six foot length of pipe going up into the chimney past the register plate. Then open chimney. Sweeping in once a year I get half a carrier bag of soot and the pipe has the crusty bits in it. I usually run the stove so it’s burning not smouldering. It burns the smoke off and it’s cleaner all round.

You're really popping out these videos Roger, prolific output!

I used to like a good chimney fire when i was young lol. It was quite exciting seeing the flames come out of the top of the roof as a 10 year old. Very easily put out yourself as i was taught at a young age but messy if you call the fire brigade.

video full of great content and articulated well.

Brilliant! thank you ~such useful information ~ very thorough and clear

Always remember as a kid our chimney caught fire and all this burning debris started falling down the chimney and onto the hearth, this went on for 20 minutes or so, my Dad handled it like a boss and saved the day...

Always good advice Roger.

Had a chimney rebuilt, flue liner added etc. One of the problems I faced was damp had come into the property via the chimney. So added a lead tray into the new chimney and weepholes in the stack. Capped the unused flues and it works perfectly with no rain or damp getting into the house. Only problem I have are seagulls who now sit on the chimney caps...

Wow...... what an absolute brilliant video. Fantastically top quality information.

Hi Roger, interesting as always, the essence of this video reflects ways of heating in the current energy situation driving those who are looking for cheap methods of heating their homes and hot water. I feel that much more information should be instilled into those choosing to go on this route in that by way of using cheap materials to burn . By this lt should be bourne in mind that removing odd bits of wood from skips for example is not always the cheap method it may appear as many constructional timbers contain treatments which when burnt produce a toxic vapour which could well be very harmful when inhaled, and l feel this needs to be addressed in greater detail.

One of my garden maintenance customers accidentally turned his chimney into a Bunsen burner burning green wood and almost anything he could find. Lucky for him the neighbours saw it and called the fire brigade

Interested on your views regarding van lifers self installing Wood burners in vans. Also the alarming rise in Van Lifers fitting and piping up their gas hobs. In a past life I was an emergency Gas Engineer for Transco. Mobile home incidents were a large part of my job.

The chimney on my early 1700's house has a massive fireplace. I have a chairs inside the fireplace eitherside of the grate. The chimney opening is around 36 inches across. I can climb up the inside. You have to watch out if you have an old chimney that has burnt solid fuel and later been used for a gas fire. The water vapor from the gas fire reacts with the soot and that attacks and deterorates the chimney lining.

Cracking video cheers..........+ keep em coming

Superb video, really informative.

Thanks Roger great video.

I love my wood burner which has a SS liner. But perhaps I should sweep it more and I usually burn softwood, except this year. As always another very informative blog. Thank you

I had my log burner installed last year. and I live in the greater manchester area. And I can tell you one thing for sure. there is no way no one is gonna stop me from using it.. they can stick their ban where the sun doesn't shine!

Would be nice to know what the regs are regarding a fireplace hearth if a chimney/fireplace is being brought into use. Some old hearths in front of chimneys have been removed - so will need to be recreated.

Great video! Thanks

Good post Roger. Perhaps explain the difference between 316 and 904 stainless liners?

My mother installed a Vermont Vigilant stove in lovely green enamel but one day left the vent wide open but full of wood and went out. When it took off it started a chimney fire so the draw caused the stove to overheat and deform. After that she didn't use it much. I inherited this stove and managed to reseal all the joints and used it for 10 years. However it has always been a problem to seal properly because of the deformation and it makes the house very dusty, possibly also because the ash has to be removed by shovelling out. Last year, we relit the oil fired Aga so we didn't use the wood stove and the house was so much cleaner. The problem is, given the price of oil has doubled and I have 3 years supply of logs stacked up in a shed, I want this winter to go back to burning wood. I have looked at replacing the stove but need something that can take 20" logs and preferably can be top loaded as the Vigilant was. Vermont make the Encore that is roughly equivalent and which can be top loaded. It also incorporates a catalytic burner and has an opening ash pan with cover, which might cut down the dust problem. However, apart from being very expensive, the UK importer doesn't bring in the full range or accessories. Does anyone know of a UK or European stove that is 8kW+, can take 20" logs, has a discrete ash pan and be top loaded?

Have a Clearview 650 in our 30s bungalow for more than 30 years.. No liner just have the chimney swept every couple of years and burn anything available and a good supply of seasoned wood…the best £800 I have ever spent..the Clearview stove has performed fault free never needed any part repaired or replaced. And fitted it myself. nothing like it for staying warm.

Roger you are a legend thanks for this.

A better idea than a DPC in a chimney is to use a couple of courses of engineering bricks. Same with exterior/garden walls. A DPC will really weaken the wall.

Roger, excellent video - thankyou. You discussed the pros & cons of pumice and s/steel liners, but only briefly mentioned clay (terracotta) liners. In the early 90s we had a new chimney built from scratch. The chimney is block-built with a cylindrical terracotta liner, back-filled with concrete and topped with a double-skinned s/steel flue to bridge a stone-slated roof. We have a multi-fuel stove, burning smokeless fuel (~95%) and kiln-dried wood (~5%) and have the chimney swept once a year. Your thoughts please? Suitable? Potential problems?

Another innovation that improves efficiency is a countercurrent chimney, where the combustion air is drawn down past the hot flue, pre-heating it before it enters the firebox. Not common yet though.

We have woodburner in living room & a wood fired range in kitchen which has back boiler & runs 9 radiators throughout the house, it also has hotplate & oven, we have stainless flue in chimney, on the range it goes through a metre thick exterior wall then into double skinned stainless chimney, we clean 3 times every year, not had problem in over 15 years.

Excellent content.. thank you

My old man used to do a bit of sweeping - soot was good for the garden! Always remember the excitement of chimney fires...we had one which split the wall open - very scary. Worst outcome was when the fire brigade got involved and squirted water down the offending chimney. Not good for the living room carpet! Good old days!

I heat with a 9kw pellet stove installed in the living room and have a large pellet boiler (50kw) installed in the garage. The efficiency is over 90% and they both burn very cleanly. They are both automated, ignition is automatic and can be remotely started / stopped.

Good explanation !

Found this very interesting so thought I would ask for advice. I’ve just bought an old town house back built in about 1930 that has 2 fireplaces that use to have 2 separate chimneys. Previously owned by a landlord that for some reason got the outside large stack removed. I’ve been in the loft and can see 2 separate chimneys, not capped, no rubble in and have bought 8 sections of twin lined pipe to go in one for a multi fuel burner. They don’t screw together but have very broad clips that fasten over the joints. Am I right in thinking that I’m putting a chimney flue in a chimney to go out the slate roof ( which is obviously closed of at the minute that is safe to do? Also in both bedrooms upstairs I have a damp patch coming through the walls and think it’s a chemical reaction from soot so I’m going to get both chimney channels brushed by a chimney sweep before work starts. My intention is to have a multi fuel fire fitted in the downstairs sitting room. Any contributions are very welcome 🙏 thank you . Marie

My Mum and Dad came home from holiday in winter and lit the fire and went shopping. Came back from shopping to fire engines. Never had a pressure relief valve in the back of the wood burner back boiler. Pipes had frozen in the attic. Blew the settee out the patio doors and put a crack all round the house inside where the wall joins the ceiling.

Use wood dried to under 20%, measure on the inside of a freshly split log, and always open the air vent so that it burns with an active flame and doesn't smolder to avoid a lot of tar build up. Get a good moisture meter. You can fit your own stove and get it signed off by building regs. Be cautious though as building regs guys read from a book and interpret things wrongly sometimes. I have seen many a liner put in upside down and signed off by them. Hetas engineers may have the ticket but that does not mean they are safe. I have seen many stoves fitted badly and could have been deadly. Also, Hetas called our firm out to a stove we fitted. They said it was incorrect, and when we got there it was. But the owner had had some work done and the builder had refitted it himself (no ticket) and made a right hash of it. We were forced to correct this work even though we had photo proof of our finished job showing how ell the stove was working. Get the correct sized stove for the room. Don't under or over size. Never make the fire up and turn it down before you go to bed. Always make sure the flames have died out, when the vent is open, before you shut it down. Flames = Tar. If you come down in the morning to a blacked up glass you are not running the stove correctly. If you have a cold flue burn a couple of sheets of loose newspaper first to flash the heat up the chimney. this will give you an upwards draft so the fire starts and doesn't smoke in to the room. Good video, but he can't get it all in.

Good presentation.

Very interesting! My Victorian house has a chimney. Iso great tips!

Most chimneys are poorly designed , usually undersized and therefore can’t draft properly. . You’re correct about the fresh air intake and modern homes won’t get you there . In Los Angeles all new construction codes only allow gas fired units because of the no solid fuel and no burn days. Personally flexible liners are a bad idea for obvious reasons.. Also 6” diameter is too small for a chimney , 8” is minimum. I love my fireplace but on a windy day or evening blow back is a problem. Good information in this video.

Thank you, great video, very informative

Smug mode. i live in the sticks. We got the best SS liner installed by a Hetas company (along with a Defra stove.) Far wider than required but future proof. Yeah it cost nearly as much as the multi fuel burner but am cleared for smokeless coal. It's cut winter central heating bills by keeping one room and the bedroom above warm. A decision made 5 years ago and suddenly, this year, it's paying for itself.

Thank you 😊

Nicely stored tools Roger. 😉

You didn't mention clay lined chimneys, lots of UK homes were built with them... From the 50s on. I have one in a bungalow right on the sea. We had a stove fitter come down to fit a stove and liner. When he looked up he discovered a 6" clay lined chimney..... He used an adaptor to fit to the clay liner. Away we went , we never had an issue at all with the old stove, or the new one... We had to change it for a smaller one because of new roof insulation and wall insulation followed by triple glazed windows..... We now have a 4 kw stove that burns wood and coal. Never together. But that little thing heats the whole place..... I'm not on mains gas so LPG for the heating is VERY expensive. Same electric or oil..... Wood is far cheeper as is coal.... Everything pollutes to a greater or lesser extent...... Keep up the good work!

Best thing we purchased was a fan Italian made which fits on top of our chimney. It has differant settings and we no longer have black ceilings or any smell when we open the door. The dark ceilings happen over time. Like I said best investment we made

Not sure if it's more difficult or easier to get a chimney installed in my 60s house. I wander if Croydon council would have the resources to check on smoke coming from the house. I might look into getting one to save some bills!

brilliant info as ever SB

I've had mine in now for about 9 years with no liner and it's fine. Periodic cleaning (Once a year) and it seals itself. 90% of my chimney is in the house which once warm, keeps the house nice and cosy all through the winter.

My understanding is the bends are to allow any rain coming down the chimney to soak in to the brickwork and then dry out when the fire is alight, rather than going straight down to the hearth.

Thanks Roger.

I’ve had 2 morso wood burners in 2 houses with no liners. No issues in 20 years. Chimneys are designed for smoke! You benefit from the smoke heat in the upstairs room if you don’t use a liner. Tested with smoke bombs before being installed and regular sweeps. I think liners are used far more than they need to be. Lots of profit for the fitters as well.

Would be great if you could do a video on masonry mass heaters, or Scandinavian type heaters they are more efficient and cheaper to run more eco

Just about to get a Defra approved fire this vid is very helpful Many thanks Noel

Glennon brothers built a biomass boiler upwind of our town quite a few years ago, the local donkey council allowed it to be built, said the townspeople were going to get a heated swimming pool out of it, and that truck/hgv traffic would be reduced and wasn't that great for the environment! Every summer the cars and windows are always covered in a fine film of what is burnt wood coming from the biomass boiler, which whatever way you want to cut it, burns wood. Also the air at night can have a terrible fragrance to it from the burning of the wood. I'm dead against the dogmatic heat pump brigade, but burning wood is a BIG no no for me!

I recomend Polish brand Kratki . Six years and still going well. Warm and preatty .

Thank you : )

Good stuff!!!!

Old school basics well explained with a bit of humour thrown in. How I miss common sense nowadays.

Hello, need some help pls, have an old farm chimney which has two clay liners, inspection showed no issue by camera but apparently real way to tell is to pressure test. New stove installers want to put a 314 or 904l steel flue inside the existing flue x 1. Should we try and retain the clay liners, also the chimney is exposed at the top.past the roof to cold weather so should we look at the insulation around whichever flue option. Never even thought about this till your video as all I hear is hetas from the industry.

Creasote forms rapidly on single wall like a cold condenser. Go to double or triple right off the stove for the cleanest flue. Don't let the fire smolder. A cheery fire heats the flue up like you want. Mortar should always be softer than the material. That is why Aircrete is bonded with construction foam. I guess it could be straight lime mortar too but its a bear over a spray can.

nice one Roger

I run 2 insert boiler stoves 12KW each in my house, I mainly burn wood cuttings of building sites i work on, so aboyt 6-8KW*2 / hr performance, it is still enough So far so good, it heats a 500L thermal store 5C every 10mins, so 2 hours runs the Under Floor Heating , runs of a plate heat exchanger as the store is vented. I normally let the Store heat to 75-80c then I get 2-3 nights of central heating source plus ample HW. Biggest issue I had was installation, very few plumbers or stove fitters have a clue on these systems. I ended up fitting all myself, they got all signed off by an inspector,

Good video Roger, The reason for the dog leg in the chimney is to capture rain half way up and not come straight into fireplace. Also there's little mention of standard clay liners they probably are the best bet. they must go the right way up, I've seen liners bricked in upside down allowing impurities to seep out into brickwork. . I've installed plenty and fifty years on still going strong. vastly superior to stainless liners. With dry wood you need only sweep once a year if you have the correct set up. I always sweep my chimney from the roof top down, takes minutes and no mess. I feel more should have been said about the all important drip corbeling and haunching up particularly with multiple pots. A good clearance will help shed rain away from the stack and always remember stacks start deteriorating on the top first followed by rapid masonry breakdown further down as the weather gets in. Cant wait to see the shed?

Having storage heaters (albeit new ones) I wouldn't be without the multi fuel burner. When we moved in about 7yrs ago we had it lined when the stove was replaced as the flue was very tarry and the company wouldn't fit a new stove without lining it - fair enough. As the chimney sweep only lives around the corner and we share a pub, it's kept well maintained with the only additional costs being a few broken door glasses from dogs chucking Kong toys at it.

Anybody with a wood burner should have a moisture meter to measure the moisture of the wood - 20% is okay but the lower the better. With heating oil being so expensive I'm running the biomass boiler on well seasoned wood at the moment. It does smoke a little bit when first lit but once it's going you don't see any smoke at all from the flue, just the heat haze at the top. In the future I may replace the biomass boiler with a newer gasification type wood burner.

Thanks!

I'm thinking of taking my chimney breast away. I'm aware of the support issues and as it's between two properties party wall etc. I'm planning to get a bloke in to do it but what should I look for? There's a mind blowing amount of contradictory info on the internet. Cheers. Fran (Manchester) 👍

great vid

Sorry Roger, after you mentioned factory chimneys all I could think about was Fred Dibnah! But back on topic, a good friend of mine is a HETAS installer and fitted our stove and does our maintenance. He was surprised that I even bothered to take the baffle plate off the stove a couple of times a season. Just an inspection more than anything, but it doesn't hurt to give things a good clean out! I don't get the logic behind burning wet wood - far less output. Burn good dry wood, and you get a lovely amount of heat out of them for little effort.

If I had the capability in my house I would 100% get a woodburner even in South London where I am considering the disgusting state of the gas prices

Good video as usual Roger and team, main issue is that where I live (Inner Hebrides) the sub 20% moisture content is neigh on impossible. While I try to season all the wood I burn the fact remains that wood in our environment, beside the sea, does not consistently achieve the target level! Unfortunately not enough people recognise the importance of moisture content and maintenance and it does lead to chimney fires and on a still day, a smoky and polluted air at street level - even in the very rural areas!

wow so much info I can write a PHD. Cheers mate!!

Very interesting