wind Noise, draught and ventilation in chimney

[xyz321]

hi

we moved into our current home few months ago. original fireplace has been removed and replaced with the decorative electric bulb fire.

i am hearing a lot of wind noise coming from the fireplace in living room, when its quite windy outside.

the fireplace is in living room and goes through to the bedroom on first floor directly upstairs. there is a small ventilation cover in the room upstairs. see image below. the chimney breast in bedroom is covered in wallpaper but knocking on the wall it feels as it in most part it is solid but the bottom part where the ventilation cover is seems to be hollow, if that makes sense!

http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b576/lat321/DSC_0469.jpg

questions are:

1) what do i need to do to stop the wind noise? is it being caused by chimney not being sealed on roof?

2) if so, any idea as to how much will it cost to seal the roof (i am in NW london)

3) Due to draught coming in the bedroom from ventilation cover, it makes room very cold. for now i have covered the cover with a cardboard which has stopped a lot of wind coming in bedroom.

4) i cant see any screws holding the ventilation cover in bedoom. any idea as to how to remove it?

ta

 

[lidster]

Hi,

I was just about to post a v similar thread to this one and wondered how you got on - if it all! Ive been in my place for 5 months now and am just getting round to the front room. my fire is still open downstairs but I am wanting to block it off completrly and just have a radiator in there (going to put my Tv on the chimney breast). We have a small vent behind our cupbaord doors in the bedroom above and its very noisy when the wind gets up. Ideally I want to just completely seal off all the gaps in the chimney breast and I assume they are just there for ventilation if you use it for any heat.

 

[big-all]

you must have ventilation top and bottom to stop damp
you could close it on windy day as long as its open often enough to stop damp
chiminies are not interconnected

 

[kbdiy]

Best way would be to have vented caps fitted to both chimneys. These would stop rain penetration from above and provide the necessary (and it is very necessary) ventilation draught to prevent condensation. Similarly you must have vents at the bottom of each chimney to complete the circulation of air. Capping the tops should stop the wind noise.
On no account seal the chimneys completely - this will certainly lead to damp/condensation problems later.

 

[lidster]

Similarly you must have vents at the bottom of each chimney to complete the circulation of air. Capping the tops should stop the wind noise.

would it be ok to drill down through the bottom of the old firepit into the sub floor and vent out into the void under the house? I have plenty of underfloor airflow on a suspended timber floor. this would mean no heat loss in the front room..... just a thought.....

 

[kbdiy]

You could try but that would need a hell of a lot of effort to create a hole large enough to give sufficient draught. The hearth is usually a large solid concrete mass.

I would stick with an airbrick in the base of the chimney breast as the simplest option.

 

[joe-90]

A vent in the chimney breast lets just enough warm moist air into the chimney to CREATE condensation issues. Either vent it under the floor or not at all.

 

[kbdiy]

A vent in the chimney breast lets just enough warm moist air into the chimney to CREATE condensation issues. Either vent it under the floor or not at all.

You might like to pop round my house then. 4 flues, all blocked off but ventilated top and bottom. Been that way for the last 25 years and not a drop of condensation anywhere. And my house is nice and warm.