HY all, I have read this topic with interest, I was a master sweep for ten years before I retired. I have seen people use chipboard for register plates and also seen people who have been ripped off by so called approved fitters and have also refused on many occasions to attempt to clean flues because my doing so would condone the use of extremely dangerous apliances.
Hetas, ermm yes, it is here to help those less knowledgable about combustion appliances and the effinciency of them and the safety aspect.
One thing however does annoy me greatly, that is, from October 2010 all appliances ie, stoves should be fitted with a minimum of a six inch flue, this is extremely shortsighted as far as the smaller woodburners are concerned the problem lies when the unburnt gasses going up the flue cool down and decide to turn back into a solid (tar, Creosote, cellulose) call it what you want.
A burner designed for use with a four inch flue, of which their are many, can not possibly keep a six inch 23 foot long twin walled stainless steel liner hot enough to keep the gasses gassious, sooner or later a ring of tar will develop and then one day when the burner is turned up flat out for a longer period than normal, that tar will indeed catch fire, the result if this happens while the occupants are asleep could prove disastrous, the tar on fire quickly expands therefore blocking the pathway for gasses to escape via there normal route, and if the stove is not in tip top condition gasses will pour out fron the burning chamber into the living quarters, need i say more.
The problem with installing a woodburner into an older chimney pre 1960's, before the advent of ceramic liners being fitted as standard, is that most home do it yourselfers goe for the heapest way out, ie, good stove, short stack pipe and a register plate, there is no way on this planet that the unburnt gasses will remain gassious in such an old brick built flue, it just never gets hot enough and sure as ice is ice, your looking at a chimney fire on your hands sooner rather than later, plus the fact the old brick built chimneys were lined with morter, which instantly started to fall off as soon as the first open fire was lit many many moons ago, leaving the morter between the bricks the only seal between your bedrooms etc and dangerous gasses.
Just a quick one on the subject of t pipes, or more commonly known as t-traps. These are for two principle reasons, first and foremost, the t trap is designed so any soot and debris fall from the chimney liner goes past the flue outlet and into the bottom of the t-trap, preventing blockage from the fall out debris, secondly, it gives access for sweeping the flue, a good sweep with the neccesary equipment will find no problem entering and cleaning the flue from this low height, other restrictions may prevent this, but their is allways a way, One more note, those of you who have a pipe exiting your stove from the top, should check fortnightly the top baffle plate inside your stove for fallen debris which can slowley build up preventing a clear exit for the gasses to exit.
Have a warm and safe christmas!!!
yaki da