Hello - I am a newcomer to woodstoves and to this forum. I have a Clearview Vision 500 cleanburning stove and am in the UK. We have central heating and have installed the stove as supplementary heating for an open-plan area, and for FUN, because I think being able to see fire is a basic need - whenever I see a fire I feel that something has been missing in my life without it! While stove-shopping I read that all the manufacturers seem to recommend a lined, insulated flue, and found some good explanations online of the need to keep the flue warm and clean. On the downside, in our case because our chimney is very high (about 48 feet off the ground) it would have added about #1,200 pounds sterling to the installation (I got several estimates and would want it professionally done). The installer (who does a lot of woodstoves but specialises in gas) felt that we did not need to have our Victorian flue lined because: the brickwork was in good condition, the flue passed a smoke test (ie he put a smoke bomb in and checked through the house for leaks), and because the chimney was so tall he thought it would draw well enough without. He recommended we have the flue pipe exiting from the top of the stove and not the back, to get a better draw.
We decided to take his advice and go ahead and see if we could get away without this extra expense, albeit with some trepidation because there are lots of very convincing articles and opinions out there from knowledgeable people who make it clear that it is best practice to line the flue. So far it *seems* to be working out, but I wanted to ask how you would know if your flue needed lining. Our stove lights very quickly, blazes away well if we have good wood in there and reaches its efficient operating temperature of 200C - 260C after about 30 minutes - we have not, so far, been putting loads of wood on, just a couple of small logs or sawdust HeatLogs at a time. The glass stays clean. I have not so far seen *anything* coming out of our chimney, although it is rather high up!! But certainly no black or grey smoke. All this suggests to me that there isn't a problem, but is there anything else which would tell me if the flue is letting the system down? I think the extra costs of flue lining in this case are so high that the system would have to be much more efficient for me to see a real payback, when I don't know how long we'll stay in this house (we'll take the stove with us if we move).
I am aware that an unlined flue is harder to clean and more vulnerable to chimney fires. Slight digression here to show that I know chimney fires are a real possibility:- having grown up in a house heated solely by one massive open fire, with my dad's DIY chimney cleaning, and often burning green or wet wood - I have experienced chimney fires on a few occasions - twice as a teenager left house-sitting! I dealt with it by holding a blanket over the fireplace from below, if I remember right (or something like that that Dad had told me to do), and on one occasion by climbing up the giant logstack at the side of the house and directing the hosepipe at the chimney. That was very effective - it was a good job the logstack reached almost to the roof! But anyway, I know it could be much worse and intend to get the sweep round very regularly to avoid the same thing happening here. Am also being careful to burn only dry wood and to use the stove properly etc..
I would appreciate your thoughts on this flue liner question. Many thanks for your time,
Angela
We decided to take his advice and go ahead and see if we could get away without this extra expense, albeit with some trepidation because there are lots of very convincing articles and opinions out there from knowledgeable people who make it clear that it is best practice to line the flue. So far it *seems* to be working out, but I wanted to ask how you would know if your flue needed lining. Our stove lights very quickly, blazes away well if we have good wood in there and reaches its efficient operating temperature of 200C - 260C after about 30 minutes - we have not, so far, been putting loads of wood on, just a couple of small logs or sawdust HeatLogs at a time. The glass stays clean. I have not so far seen *anything* coming out of our chimney, although it is rather high up!! But certainly no black or grey smoke. All this suggests to me that there isn't a problem, but is there anything else which would tell me if the flue is letting the system down? I think the extra costs of flue lining in this case are so high that the system would have to be much more efficient for me to see a real payback, when I don't know how long we'll stay in this house (we'll take the stove with us if we move).
I am aware that an unlined flue is harder to clean and more vulnerable to chimney fires. Slight digression here to show that I know chimney fires are a real possibility:- having grown up in a house heated solely by one massive open fire, with my dad's DIY chimney cleaning, and often burning green or wet wood - I have experienced chimney fires on a few occasions - twice as a teenager left house-sitting! I dealt with it by holding a blanket over the fireplace from below, if I remember right (or something like that that Dad had told me to do), and on one occasion by climbing up the giant logstack at the side of the house and directing the hosepipe at the chimney. That was very effective - it was a good job the logstack reached almost to the roof! But anyway, I know it could be much worse and intend to get the sweep round very regularly to avoid the same thing happening here. Am also being careful to burn only dry wood and to use the stove properly etc..
I would appreciate your thoughts on this flue liner question. Many thanks for your time,
Angela
