Advice on condemned flue

[Jon1971]

Hi Guys,

I am a disabled council tenant & a couple of years ago after the contracted gas engineer did his annual service & check he condemned the chimney flue due to fumes being detected in the living room.

At this time I asked the council surveyor who had to confirm the outcome of the incident whether there could be anything done to make the flue usable again but he would not entertain the idea giving me no explanation, it is possible that it may have just been a budget issue. Soon afterwards we had the back-boiler & gas fire removed, the hole was blocked up very badly & excess plaster was applied to the finished job.

Whilst doing some DIY, I thought I would tidy up the plaster so that it was flush with the wall. During this process cracks started to appear in the plaster in the shape of breeze blocks & obviously I realised something was amiss. Upon further investigation it was evident that the hole had been filled with breeze blocks stacked on top of each other with no mortar & cruedely plastered over! I removed all of the breeze blocks which now has left a gaping hole in the chimney breast.

My questions are these:

Is it reasonable to assume that the flue can be made usable again, what might this entail & how much might it cost?

If it is not possible to fix the condemned flue then I have been considering a flueless fire, but upon reading posts on this forum from a few years ago I have noticed that many of you will not entertain using these in any circumstance, so my 2nd question is:

Are flueless fires still seen as a danger or has technology advanced in the last few years & are they now worth considering?

My last question is:

I have gas central heating fired from a combi boiler which is fine when it is running from the timer, but at times when the central heating is not on my home is extremely cold so would it be feesable to refit a gas fire if the flue could be made effective?

I know that my post is very long but I thought I would try & give as much info as possible & if any more info is needed for advise then please let me know.

Thank you in advance for any advise that you may be able to offer.

Jon

 

[Mark Br]

If two people have told you that the flue cannot be used I would say it would be wise to take their advice.

Flueless fires are intended as a secondary source of heat, personally I wouldn't fit one, but I'm not going to start that debate off.

I don't really understand, you say you have a combi boiler, what is wrong with this to provide the heat for the house?

 

[Corgigrouch]

Any flue can be made safe given the required quantity of money... Why not just adjust the timer so that the boiler runs when you are cold. Once your home is warm enough the room thermostat will turn off your boiler.... Far better and more cost effective than a gas fire

A flueless fire will still need a large vent to outside through your wall.... Nice when the wind blows

 

[xr4x4]

Does your place have a brick chimney?

If so, they can be lined with a stainless steel liner and then you can fit anything you like in there.

 

[Agile]

Hi Guys,

I have gas central heating fired from a combi boiler which is fine when it is running from the timer, but at times when the central heating is not on my home is extremely cold so would it be feesable to refit a gas fire if the flue could be made effective?

Jon

It must be obvious that the house can be cold if the heating is off.

Perhaps I am missing something but the usual solution would be to turn the heating on! Even better to let the room stat do it for you!

Tony

 

[Nige F]

Hi Guys,

At this time I asked the council surveyor who had to confirm the outcome of the incident whether there could be anything done to make the flue usable again but he would not entertain the idea giving me no explanation, it is possible that it may have just been a budget issue. Jon

Unless he was a qualified Gas Safe installer as well as a " surveyor" he wasn`t qualified to comment - too proud to say " I`m not qualified to comment" maybe

 

[algas]

As a disabled council tenant you are able to get grants for free loft & cavity wall insulation, if the insulation values of your house are up to standard you will keep warm longer while using less heat, & block up the fireplace as you will be letting all your heat up the chimney!

 

[macfudd]

I find the original reason given for removing your bbu and fire very flimsy.C/H bbus are all fitted with a flue liner within the chimney,it would have been much cheaper just to fit a new liner to the bbu,than replace it with a brand new system.

If I discovered fumes in someones lounge,with a bbu and fire,my first suspect would be that the fire was spilling or had a cracked heat exchanger,not to say that the flue isn`t/wasn`t faulty of coarse,the flue liner would have been the last thing I checked because it can be extremely difficult to prove one is holed in some way.

Your best bet is to get a gas safe engineer,who`s qualified on fires to come and check the chimney and advise you,if the old flue liner is still there,he/she may need to to remove it to check the chimney properly.

Unlike a lot of gas safe engineers here I like gas fires and fit quite a lot of them,there`s nothing quite like the immediate direct heat and the cosiness of a gas fire and some are very efficient these days.

 

[expertgasman]

Macfudd is quite right. How old is the house. Is the terminal pot visible.

A gas fure can be 80% efficient on high, and typically runs at 5Kw on high. at a typical cost of 3.3pp/hr it would cost 16.5p on HIGH, and most folk don't run them on high for long.

 

[slapper]

I find the original reason given for removing your bbu and fire very flimsy.C/H bbus are all fitted with a flue liner within the chimney,it would have been much cheaper just to fit a new liner to the bbu,than replace it with a brand new system.

If I discovered fumes in someones lounge,with a bbu and fire,my first suspect would be that the fire was spilling or had a cracked heat exchanger,not to say that the flue isn`t/wasn`t faulty of coarse,the flue liner would have been the last thing I checked because it can be extremely difficult to prove one is holed in some way.

Your best bet is to get a gas safe engineer,who`s qualified on fires to come and check the chimney and advise you,if the old flue liner is still there,he/she may need to to remove it to check the chimney properly.

Unlike a lot of gas safe engineers here I like gas fires and fit quite a lot of them,there`s nothing quite like the immediate direct heat and the cosiness of a gas fire and some are very efficient these days.

I too agree with macfudd, there should,ve been a stainless steel liner in one length from spigot off boiler to terminal, ie continuous.

As for a Flueless appliance I have only fitted one for a friend, and they are very happy, obviously well vented as MIs and a CO detector in the same room.

If your vent is fitted high then you wont get any draughts round your legs.

Most important is to get a Gasafe Engineer to fit it. Good Luck

 

[slapper]

Hi Guys,

I have gas central heating fired from a combi boiler which is fine when it is running from the timer, but at times when the central heating is not on my home is extremely cold so would it be feesable to refit a gas fire if the flue could be made effective?

Jon

It must be obvious that the house can be cold if the heating is off.

Perhaps I am missing something but the usual solution would be to turn the heating on! Even better to let the room stat do it for you!

Tony

What your missing Agile...... is common sense!!