CORONAVIRUS: SWEEPING PROCEDURE
Thank you for your booking with us. We have always operated with strict safety procedures to protect us as well as you and your property. We use appropriate sheeting to protect floors and carpets and strict dust control measures are normal. We use a P3 dust mask and gloves for every job as standard.
We now have ENHANCED protection in place:
• On booking we will ask for your email address so that we can send you our Coronavirus policy
• If someone is being shielded, we will only attend to rectify a dangerous issue. If shielding through age (70+) we will attend but we must not be in the same room
• We will not come if we, or anyone in our household or yours, is/are isolating or experiencing any symptoms of Coronavirus. We will call you the day before to check about symptoms. If we cannot make contact, we will not attend the appointment.
• Please ventilate the room by opening windows and clear the route to the fireplace. Open internal doors leading to work area.
• We will call you upon arrival to check re symptoms. Only one operative will enter your house.
• We will maintain social distancing. Please open the front door and after introductions customers and pets must either stay in an adjoining room or garden and have a phone available.
• We will complete the Certificate by gloved hand, and will leave it near the fireplace.
• Payment can be made either (a) by emailed invoice or (b) bank transfer. Payment is due on the day of completion. Cash will be a last option if (a) or (b) is not practical.
• On completion of the job we will wipe down door handles and sockets used with sanitiser. Floor sheets are fresh for each job.
• Unfortunately, we won’t be able to accept tea and biscuits this year!

BACS Details are: HSBC: 40-36-33 : Acc No 41305492 : Name: Paul Clements

Paul and Elly

A very topical discussion and following consultation solid fuel burning features in the H.M. Government’s Clean Air Strategy 2020

Pollutants produced are correlated to the method of burning and the quality of wood used. It a stove is used to correct temperature, with seasoned wood below 20% moisture content (ideally lower), and regularly swept, then pollutants are reduced to acceptable levels.

What does this mean for the future of wood and coal burning?  Solid fuel burning is not being stopped, in fact, the drive is to make more efficient use of appliances, which will save you money and reduce carbon emissions. The onus is on suppliers here to show that their fuel is good;

Regulation on wood

• All wood sold for the purpose of domestic combustion in volumes under 2m³ must go through a certification scheme or the supplier must demonstrate that the fuel meets the required moisture levels (below 20%)
• All wet wood sold for the purpose of domestic combustion over 2m³ must be sold with relevant advice on how to season the wood to make it suitable as a fuel.

Regulation on bituminous (aka household) coal

• All bituminous house coal will be phased out from sale for domestic heating purposes – packaged sales will cease in 2021, loose coal by 2022

Manufactured solid manufactured fuels (aka smokeless)

• All manufactured solid mineral fuels sold will need to be labelled to confirm they contain less than 2% sulphur and have less than 5g/h smoke emissions.

We trust this is helpful, we can carry on using our fires and stoves, we just need to be collectively more efficient.

www.burnright.co.uk

Fire Service advice (see this link)and the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps advise a schedule of sweeping thus:
– Solid Fuel Fires/Stoves/Appliance – Annually for smokeless fuel and twice per year for coal
– Wood Burning Fires/Stoves/Appliances – Every three months during use (i.e twice per season)
– Gas Appliances – Once every year if designed for sweeping
– Oil Fired Appliances – Once per year

There is a particular installation standard for thatched properties and we are trained in sweeping to this standard. Thatched insurers will often demand more than once per year sweeping, so its worth checking your policy. We work with https://www.thatchadvicecentre.co.uk/  which is a  good source of free information for thatched property owners.

Hampshire Fire Service provide a thorough information pack and video with supporting material, developed to help owners of thatched properties minimise the risk of fire. See this link where you can download the pack as a PDF.

Birds such as blackbirds and pigeons will often be heard chirping and cooing down the chimney. Chimney pots are comfortable places for them to sit and rest, there is always warm air even when the fire is not alight moving from the house up the chimney and this is pleasant for them. Cooing and chirping will sound loud owing to the echo and it is easy to think they are in the chimney, or nesting, but they may not be.

If you are you getting smoke in the room from a fire or you otherwise suspect a nest, look up the chimney with a torch, are there twigs? Are there twigs dropping into the grate? Observe the chimney pot from the garden, see if you are watching birds tending the chimney pot regularly.

Jackdaws are prolific chimney nest builders. They nest between February and August and if you are unfortunate enough to have jackdaw nest and it is being used, it is illegal to disturb it until the young have fledged. This often means a wait until August to clear it (See  The nest is removed from the fireplace with specialist hooks and rods, pulling the nest downwards and out through the fireplace opening. They will often be many metres in depth, growing the whole length of the flue and may fill at the worst 4 or 5 sacks with nesting material, which will consist of twigs, animal fur, horse dung, earth, faeces and much else.

We can arrange cowls for all fire types and this is a reliable method to keep out birds and weather. We often encounter simple chicken wire type inserts into chimney pots, or inappropriate cowls for the fire type and will recommend removal for safety reasons.

Most importantly, seek advice quickly; you may have a birds nest or other blockage which may cause a chimney fire or carbon monoxide poisoning. Draw problems are generally solvable and may take some investigation on site, but the main causes are:

– Blockage/restriction
– Too much air competing to get up the flue
– Too little air to fuel the fire
– Inadequate air control operation on a stove
– Downdraught caused by tall trees or surrounding buildings, strong winds and other causes
– Poor flue design

Cleaner Chimneys can work with you to identify the problem

H.M. Government is developing a scheme called Woodsure, so you can find out through this whether a supplier is a member of the scheme, whereby they have to prove they store and sell properly seasoned wood below 20% moisture content.

This is in early development, until it grows you really have little chance of verifying claims that wood is properly seasoned. We recommend going with recommendation, and we can help with that, also the use of a moisture meter to check the logs at the time of purchase and when filling up your log basket from your outside store. You can buy these anywhere, but Cleaner Chimneys carries on the van a supply of moisture meters for sale to customers.

A good log supplier won’t mind you saying that you are going to test a few logs when the truck arrives before they drop the load, if they do object, don’t use them!

Chop and split the logs to store, and keep your logs outdoors, in a three-sided shelter with the open side away from prevailing weather if possible so that air can get around the wood. HETAS are the official body recognised by Government to approve biomass and solid fuel domestic heating appliances, fuels and services including the registration of competent installers and servicing businesses. There is some useful advice here (PDF) regarding wood use on fires.

Often before the installation of a stove it will be suggested that a stainless-steel liner be fitted to ensure efficient operation of the appliance. This can be the biggest cost of a stove installation.

Older houses generally pre 1965 can often suffer degradation and present a risk to occupants in use, so a chimney may always need re lining in this case.

Here (PDF) is some useful HETAS advice re lining and Cleaner Chimneys can always put you in touch with recommended and registered installers.