Recirculating air up the chimney

[FlyingDuck]

Hi all,

My wife is dead set on us having a range cooker in the chimney, which has now been opened. The plan was to use a recirculating extractor because the distance to outside is too great.

I need to protect the hood from falling debris but I know that it's a bad idea to seal off a chimney breast due to condensation gathering.

I also need to find something to 'do' with the recirculated air. Here are my options, as I see them:

1. Seal off the chimney a foot or so above the fan using ply or something and feed the recirculated air through that protective layer (with some kind of mesh on the end to prevent crap from falling in). The recirculated air being pushed up the chimney would provide enough circulation to mitigate any damp issues (killing two birds with one stone). I like this idea, but I'm worried that over time, cooking grease etc may still build up, even after filtration?

2. Feed the air back into the room with a vent on the side of the chimney further up. I could make add an additional vent next to it, to promote air circulation.

I'm really struggling to find any advice that pertains to this particular scenario. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[bernardgreen]

Have you considered venting the extractor up the chimney through a liner to a chimney pot fitted with a rain guard ? It would need a condensation trap at the bottom to catch the water created when steam from cooking condensed on the inside of the liner and a way to drain that water away.

With any powerful extractor to the outside you need to ensure there is a means for air to enter the room to replace that extracted. Without that replacement air the extractor will be less effective. You also need to consider the effect of the extraction on other room vented gas appliances and open fires in rooms from which the replacement air is taken.

 

[FlyingDuck]

The space for an extractor is small. Even if there were a product with a small footprint powerful enough to force air that far, I don't think I could afford it. I'm reconciled to re-circulation, however poor it is. So the question really is, can I send that recirculated air up the chimney to allow for ventilation and if not, do I need to add additional ventilation in the form of vents, either in the chimney or in the base for the extractor hood?