What type of flue is this?

[jlaw]

Hi Everyone,

First of all I should introduce myself as I'm a new member, my name is joe and I've just bought a bungalow in need of some work so you'll probably see a fair bit of me in future!

Anyway the property currently has a gas fire in the lounge, although I think it may have had a wood burner previously.

There is no actual chimney on the property but a metal version that heads up and out the roof.

I want to install a wood burner and so need a double skinned flue,so my question is whether or not what I have is suitable?


I climbed up on the roof and popped off the top section today and took a few pictures - let me know if you think this is suitable or will need to be replaced.

Looking down the pipe:





The bit I took off:



And what it looks like al together:




Any help is much appreciated.

 

[muggles]

The terminal is a gas terminal and is very definitely not suitable for solid fuel

As for the rest of it, it's hard to say. It looks like Nova twinwall, which is a solid fuel rated flue system. If you can find some numbers/letters stamped on it that would be a huge help, and it does appear to have been used for solid fuel previously which could suggest that it is suitable, however I would urge extreme caution without any proof. There might be some designation markings on it somewhere, although unfortunately many manufacturers just print these markings onto paper labels which then burn off

If in doubt, change it for a new flue system that you know to be suitable

What internal diameter is it, out of interest?

 

[jlaw]

Hi Muggles,

Thanks for the reply, to answer your question the internal is six inch and the external is 8 inch.

I popped the top off again today and cleaned it up a bit

This is the bottom connection:




Where it enters the loft





And the only marking on it I can find

 

[muggles]

Well I was kind of correct, Selkirk Metalbestos ceased trading in the UK in 2000 and after being sold and re-sold a couple of times have now become SFL, who make the Nova twinwall system, which is what I said I thought yours looked like. It is also of the correct diameter for solid fuel.

It is therefore likely to be *technically* suitable for solid fuel and might even be compatible with the modern Nova SM system, however as your flue has no British Standard markings on it the chances of finding someone who is prepared to sign off the installation as being compliant and safe to use are pretty remote (and you need to have it signed off or you may well find that your house insurance is invalid if your house burns down). I would therefore recommend that the entire system is replaced. You should also be aware that there is a regulation minimum length of 4.5m from the top of your appliance to the flue terminal, so if this is not achieved then it will need extending, and there are a couple of other regulatory issues that need addressing on the present installation in order to make it compliant

 

[jlaw]

Hi Muggles,

Thanks for all you help, I'll measure the total length tomorrow but I'm fairly certain its more than 4.5m.

Also from their website it looks like selkirk launched in the UK again in 2006 so I should be all good if i need anything to extend it.

http://www.selkirkchimney.co.uk/

 

[muggles]

They're a bit of an odd one, I think the stuff that is marketed as Selkirk in the UK is imported from overseas, but Selkirk Manufacturing became SFL http://www.sflchimneys.com/

 

[jlaw]

there are a couple of other regulatory issues that need addressing on the present installation in order to make it compliant

Hi Muggles,

Thanks for all your help so far, what regulatory issues are there with the current install?

 

[muggles]

Hi
Sorry for the slow reply - work is rather manic at the moment!

The flue should have a cage around it in the loft to prevent flammable materials coming into contact with it (all flammable materials must be at least 50mm away from twinwall).

The flue doesn't appear to be tall enough - if it is within 600mm of the ridge, it must clear the ridge vertically by 600mm, and if it is more than 600mm from the ridge then it must have 1m vertical and 2.3m horizontal clearance from the surface of the roof at the terminal.




That's all that I can see from your pictures but I would also be interested in things like whether the support brackets are correct, whether your ventilated ceiling supports and intumescent firestops are present/correctly installed, correct roof penetration, and what sweeping access is provided