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Hi everyone. I really appreciate any advice. I have a wood burning stove with a flue that terminates just above a sealed fireboard. I've had a WBS company check it out and they said this is unusual, and it needs a whole new flue liner etc to meet modern regs and to brun properly. They say as the short flue could deposit soot onto the fireboard, build up over time, and then cause a chimney breast fire. However I have just discovered an access hatch hidden behind a mirror on the chimney breast, which they, nor I had previously known about. This means I could periodically sweep up built up deposits from the fireboard, and assumingly reduce that risk significantly. I include a diagram of the arrangement and photos further below: My questions are: * Does my mitigation of risk sound reasonable? That if I use this hatch to clean deposits regularly, then the chance of fire is significantly reduced? * Can a sweep still clean the brick chimney by using brushes up the WBS. Or would they have to go up via this small acccess hatch - is that even possible? Of course I could ask a stove supplier, but two have already failed to check for a hatch and quoted me £1800 for a new flue liner, aire vvent in the room, etc. Note: I only really intend to use this fire once or twice a week during the winter. I have decent central heating and the fire iis more of an occasional nicety for winter evvenings. Background: I moved into my house about a year ago. And I was already aware that the WBS in the living room didn't have any HETAS paperwork (discount on sale was appplied!). An old friend of mine who has had stoves all his life said let's run a few tests... see if it's drawing. We did a smoke test, and sure enough looking from outside it was drawing well enough. Then we lit a few fires over the course of a week and it burned reasonably well. The ropes on the doors were falling off, which I think contributed to a lot of smoke smell in the house from the fire. But 3x Carbon Monoxide detectors dottted around the fire room, room above and hallway didn't ping once.

Hi there! I haven't managed to find a plot yet but for the past few months I've been designing the perfect home for my partner and I. I want it to be as "eco friendly" as possible but I'm not fussed on the technology that's used in home nowadays (ASHP's & MVHR's). That's why I've focused on a small footprint with lots of airflow around the house and just a wood burner as the main heating source for the winter. I am considering electric underfloor heating in the bathroom if needed. The shell will be made from SIP panels and will be clad in cork rather than a traditional brick, render or timber cladding. I'll also have a Solar Assisted Heat Pump for hot water as it has less moving parts than an ASHP and is ample just for our hot water use. My main stumbling block now is whether the ventilation system I want is adequate (I think it is but have no real experience apart from research online). Rather than a MVHR I've gone for a PIV system to pump in the fresh air and some old fashioned vents to exhaust the stale air. I'll be relying on air currents to transfer the heat and fresh air around rather than tons of ducting. I've attached a pic to show my ideal layout and some of my ideas. Anyone have any experience with this type of low tech build here?

Evening all, first request for advice! I’m opening up our fireplace which was previously an open fire and have already placed a lintel for support. I’ve hit a bit of a roadblock in that the bricks inside the chimney angling up to the right do not seem to be supported by anything. On the left side they look to be resting on the one course of bricks, which I would like to remove, on the right, they sit across 3 courses of brick, 2 of which I’m looking to remove. further up, they do not seem to be interlocking with the front or back wall, just mortared to each other almost floating in the middle if I remove some of the legs. Am I safe to remove the bricks in the feet or am I in danger of causing some damage to the chimney? TIA for any comments, Rob

Hi all, We are looking for some help with the best configuration of heating and hot water system. We will likely have oil on site, a wood burner and solar thermal panels. How would we put these together for the best system. We will have under floor heating. We could make room for a storage tank but we're thinking of just having an oil Combination boiler for the hot and heating until the Architect came up with solar thermal panels for SAP. We will only use the wood burner on occational cold evenings. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks, Geoff

Hi there, I'm not sure which forum to post this in, so I've taken a best guess I'll be starting large extension build next year which will involved installing a new external Oil Boiler connected to a hot water cylinder on the ground floor. unvented I believe, as there is nowhere to put a header tank? in the upstairs of the old house. The old part of the house is over two floors and will remain heated by radiators. the new extension will be underfloor heating. part of the extension is a large (to me) open plan area with a woodburner in it. now that I'm firming up the build, I'm wondering if there is any way to connect a woodburner to a cylinder, on the same floor level? Attached is a diagram of the current layout, there is hot water cylinder in a utlility room roughly 17m from the woodburner. the utility room is a single storey extension. I believe the proposed cylinder is unvented, which I guess it would need a pump to heat the radiators upstairs in the old part of the house. has anyone successfully been able to connect a woodburner/boiler stove on the same floor? .I have my doubts, but its worth a shot as I have access to an almost unlimited supply of firewood, I'd love to heat the radiators via woodburner as much as possible. I'm just in the process of engaging a builder, and would like to be able to speak to his plumber with some degree of understanding. any pointers, much appreciated.