Sunday 25 January 2015

Sweeping Chimneys & An EcoFan

Before Christmas I took another small step with self reliance and purchased some chimney sweeping brushes. As ours is a steel lined flue I had to buy a special brush and flexible poles for it - not cheap but I figured it would soon work out much more cost effective than hiring someone to sweep it twice a year (A friend had theirs done at a cost of £40 the other week).
 I also went a bit mad and got another carbon monoxide alarm and a Ecofan, the firm I brought it all from also chucked in a chimney cleaning log. 
The Ecofan is a clever bit of kit and I've been hankering after one for a while! The motor is powered from the heat from the fire, no batteries or anything. It was purchased because the heat from our stove just stays in the living room so the plan being that it would circulate it around the house more. We've been using it for a month now and so far it's been brilliant, it runs very quietly, starts as soon as the fire gets warm enough and pushes air around the house a little more. I have it aimed at the living room door to get some heat up the stairs and I'd say you can definitely feel a difference when you're up there.
As for sweeping the chimney, the brushes were designed for that sized lining and you can tell - it was so easy, no way worth a £40 charge for how long it took me! We burn our fire at optimum temperatures for our stove most of the time (between 200 and 300 degrees c) and it showed by how much soot came down the chimney, barely enough to fill a half pint glass, that was after a season of use as well so I was pretty pleased!
Who else sweeps their chimney themselves? How often do you do it?

26 comments:

  1. That's one of my smallholding chores, Kev. I also use them for unblocking the septic tank. Oh the joys of country living. What do you with the soot? I put it on my onions. They seem to like it.

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    1. The soot from sweeping goes in the bin. The ash goes on the garden (onions like you) and in my tomato food.

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  2. We do ours ourselves as well although we can't make up our minds if we need the next size brush. Very little comes down although we wouldn't call it soot. More like soot and something else mixed in.

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    1. Very little came down from mine but I got it from the same place that sells the flue we installed so it must be the right one.

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  3. Might have to look in to getting a set of brushes. We've got an eco-fan and the thermometer, and we've certainly noticed a big difference since we got the fan. The stairs are never really warm, but definitely warmer than they were!

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    1. It makes a difference doesn't it! I made the investment in the brushes because I just feel safer knowing it's been swept and it should make the liner last a lifetime.

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  4. Col does ours too, the woodburner from the roof downwards. Because both Rayburn and wood burner are let out at night the flues expand and contract which loosens the soot so they don't need doing often

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    1. That might be what happens with ours then. I wouldn't want to do this one off the roof each time. Too high for me! I'd be alright with some scaffold up there.

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  5. We've done ours for years as well. Interestingly I saw a post on an American blog about cleaning chimneys and they all do theirs from the top down. Presumably due to the way they construct their flues! I must say I'm a lot happier kneeling on the floor than weilding a brush and rods 30 ft up a ladder!

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    1. I guess that a lot of their houses are single story though? Mine has ridges all the way up it that are meant to help with it all.

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  6. A man after my own heart Kev! I bought a set of chimney rods and brush as well last year, initially to clear some drains outside, (the rods that is, not the brush!) and now I do my own. (Yes, ME, not the other half!) Ours is an open fire in the living room, but it has a sort of round flue that I think is made of concrete pipe or something like that so it's dead easy to do. I had to cut the brush to size as it was too big, and I always attach a ball of plastic unbreakable string to the brush lest it come off the rods and get stuck up there....you're supposed to make sure that you NEVER turn it anti-clockwise otherwise the rods and everything else will come undone. The string is an extra precaution to save the embarassment of having a sweep come and bale me out. Round here they charge £50 a go. And just to check everything's clean I shine a torch up there and look in an upturned mirror to see right the way to the top. One caution though, I read somewhere that if you have a chimney fire and the insurance people find out that you've been doing it yourself it can invalidate your insurance. I hope I'm being careful enough to avoid that though.

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    1. We heard that but checked with our insurers that a, they knew we had a wood burner and b, it was okay for us to sweep. They said it was.

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    2. Sue check out my post from 2013 - http://www.englishhomestead.com/2013/09/chimney-sweeping-mistake.html I have made that mistake! I tighten mine up with a spanner but I like the idea of some string as well - I'll do that next time that's for sure! I think the insurance thing is only in France although I could be wrong. I grew up in a house that would have a chimney fire most years and worry dad for nights as it burnt and burnt!

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  7. That ecofan...would it work in front of an open fire do you think or does it have to be on top of a stove or boiler or whatever?

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    1. No it's powered by the heat of the stove. here'sa link http://www.ecofan.co.uk/woodstove-ecofans.html. They also do a product that powers loads of LED light off a tea light, I thought that looked cool as well!

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  8. That fan is amazing, I have not seen one before!
    I bought chimney cleaning rods and a brush in 08 when I installed my insulated stainless steel flu but it heats up and stays clean so I have not been able to clean it. The only place that got any build up was the cap that was not insulated so I just take that off when burning. Ceramic liners are cold and just collect soot and creosote, I don't think I would use one after stainless steel.

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    1. The fan is really top notch, really moves the hot air about the house a bit more and costs nothing to run. This one is stainless steel and although it was quite expensive I think it was the right decision. They are meant to heat up so quickly and it really improves the draw on a fire as well.

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  9. I have no real need since my outside furnace has a flue only about four foot long. The inside stove I haven't really used in years except to start it up once int he Fall to make sure it is still drawing alright. Before I got the outside furnace though I did clean it each year though.

    My biggest problem has always been keeping the damned birds out of the top. No matter what kind of cap I would buy they always seem to find their way in eventually.

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    1. The cap on this one has got mesh around it to keep them out. There's three more with birds nests down them though. I want to reuse one soon when we do the extension and reline it. I think it's got about 20 years worth of jackdaws nests in it packed solid, I'd a feeling I'm going to have to take bricks out to clear it!

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  10. A clever fellow like your own should make your own fan. See this link http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Stove-Fan-for-under-50/
    You can find the peltier elements on ebay. The key is to have a really efficient heat sink.
    I just start a really hot fire and burn the flue out. It is triple lined stainless and I have a single level house. I have a new supposedly super efficient woodstove which preheats the air going into the firebox. I tend to leave it running all night with the draft shut off but a good blazing fire in the morning seems to clean it all out again.
    I also bought an eco-fan but I wish I would have built my own. I just don't get stuff done...

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    1. I think when I get another stove I'll be making this! thanks for the link, I never even thought about making my own! Looks pretty simple and I bet my uncle has got an old heat sink from a computer somewhere so that would save on costs. I'll add this to future projects!

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  11. You got an eco-fan! That's something else that's been on my wish list for awhile. I see buddeshepherd's link to a DIY model, very glad for that.

    Dan cleans out our chimneys once a year. We bought the equipment at a home improvement store and it's a pretty easy DIY job we think.

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    1. Yeah the DIY one looks pretty cool and a nice little project for a winters night.
      Sweeping isn't a tricky job but it's one I naturally put off as I always think it's going to make more mess than it does!

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  12. After umming and ahhing for ages I took the plunge and got an Eco fan (or rather a cheaper version). I'm so glad I did – I think it makes a big difference.

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  13. I think it really spreads the heat. Worth the money in my book.

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  14. omg, Whenever anyone talks about sweeping chimneys it brings back memories of when Tom did ours and lost the brush up the chimney, he spent all day with bent forks on the end of the rods trying to get it back lol
    Briony
    x

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