Omlet cube and run

[CatieB]

i know lots of you are stove fans as am I. We have a morso stove thaat we love...we installed it when we moved in about 6 or 7 years ago. We were told at the time that it was up to us if we had a steel liner as it wasnt strictly necessary in the existing fireplace. We chose not to.

 

Our chimney sweep who is a strictly by the book, expensive fitter has ever since said out stove is fitted badly. Now the register plate has broken (due to rattling in the wind, we live in a very windy rural location) He will only refit if we pay for a steel liner and refit the whole thing. It will cost £1500!!!!! He says it will be worth it and the stove will work better.

 

The original fitter is much more of an old tradtionalist both in age and ways. He says not necessary and will refit the register plate.

 

Hubby doesnt want to spend the additional money but I dont feel I am knowledgeable enough to make an informed decision with such opposing advice. I have seen on another thread someone saying they would always have a liner. Why and what difference does it make. Thanks

[Olly]

It depends on the age and construction of your house, but soot and smoke are corrosive and can damage the brickwork. If you get soot etc leaching through the chimney breast on an upstairs room you'll have to re plaster to get rid if it - more seriously, you could get carbon monoxide or other fumes coming through or even a chimney fire.

 

Now that is all a 'worst case' scenario - Victorian houses were all built with chimneys, many have been in use continuously and don't show problems, so it might never happen. However an enclosed stove burns much hotter and produces more toxic gases than an open fire, and so is more likely to corrode the inside of the chimney.

 

That's my understanding of it - I'm no expert, that's how the sweep explained it to me. It is a lot of money but I felt I'd prefer peace of mind. Also I believe you need a liner to get a Hetas certificate so if you're thinking of selling your house it might make a difference.

[CatieB]

Our house was only built in 1990 and we were told we didn't need a liner as the chimney was purpose built - we were given an option for a liner but understood that to be the rolls royce of fitting at the time. I think what we have is clay or brick though as opposed to having a steel liner one. We were given a hetas certificate when we had it fitted (6 years ago) but our sweep says regs have changed and it should have a steel liner and will work better. We definitely have no intention to move, i call this our forever house.

 

Do we bring ourselves up to date with modern regs at great expense or think well it was alright before??? Id like to know if we would notice a difference?

[Olly]

My house is 70 years older than yours, I think in your circumstances I'd be reluctant to spend that much money. I can't say I've noticed any difference to the way it draws.

[Beantree]

We had Carbon Monoxide poisoning in our last house. There was a crack right up the brick chimney which may have been the reason, but we have since moved and our new place has a liner. It was a wood burning stove so Sulphuric acid (a product of burning coal combined with water) wasn't the reason for the crack, rather the extreme heat. But any enclosed solid fuel stove burns with insufficient air therefore oxygen to increase the efficiency. That produces a lot of Carbon Monoxide. The alarms you buy trigger at 50 parts per million but the damage starts at lower levels, 30 ppm. A sudden crack from heat appearing in the chimney could potentially flood the house with carbon monoxide and you only have moments to get out. £1500 is pretty cheap really, considering the gamble you are taking.

[The Dogmother]

I've had a stove for about 15 years, and consider the liner a worthwhile investment. Do bear in mind though that it's not advisable to burn stove nuggets or coal if you have a liner as the acid it produces will corrode the liner.

 

Do make sure that your sweep is one who is happy to check the 'health' of your stove, chimney and liner when they sweep.

[chickencam]

We live in a house built in the late 1980's and when we had our stove fitted we were told that our chimney was pot lined, but that it would be both safer and more efficient with a steel liner. I would worry about carbon monoxide too, we lived in an old cottage when I was little and had to have our chimney lined for this reason.