Author Archives: Tom Reid

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Using a stove thermometer to ensure optimum efficiency

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Your newly acquired wood/multifuel stove will give months of long, easy & warm cosy days where you can lounge around just enjoying yourself. However, as with all things that are subject to temperature & pH variations, maintenance checks are essential.
Using a thermometer gives you peace of mind over safety and the satisfaction that everything is running under optimum conditions.

Often times these, “checks” may seem as if they might drag you out of your comfort zone but the good news is, that once you’ve attached it to the stove top (or flue pipe arising from it) using a thermometer is as simple as making regular readings. They come in a few varieties and can be wire, hose clipped or magnetically attached.

 

stove thermometer

Figure:1 Typical stove thermometer with “optimum operation zone”


Used primarily to avoid over firing, (the resulting extreme temperatures create bad fuel efficiency) and are operated by having an eye gauge in both °Celsius and Fahrenheit. Keeping your stove burning in the Correct range: 115°C – 245°C or  (240°F – 475°F) will ensure the safest operation, whilst simultaneously giving maximum fuel economy.

Running Too Cool

Allowing your stove to reach burning temperatures below 115°C or (240°F) will lead to incomplete combustion creating carbon monoxide, tar, soot and creosote.

Creosote itself, is a condensation residue of coal and/or wood particles, hydrocarbons, gases and other airborne debris. It is formed as gases cool, for example when air in a chimney is not hot enough to push the particles out. Its appearance is of a thick hard black shiny goo which is flammable and reduces the bore of the flue by sticking to it.

Running Too Hot

When you allow your stove apparatus to run above burning temperatures of 245°C or (475°F) you risk damaging your flue/liner/cowl and possibly warping your baffle plate.  The risk of chimney fires is significantly increased now, especially if there has been creosote build up.

Further Info

Choosing to read our other articles under ‘stoves’ or burning ‘wood’ to gain the knowledge needed to use your appliances to maximum efficiency under safe conditions is advisable. Please always remember a significant part of this maintenance strategy is to get your solid fuel heating appliances in use, swept at least once a year by your chimney sweep.

You can buy thermometers and wood moisture meters Here
NB/ We are in no way affiliated with this company and the link is only just to show an example of what items you may want

Multi Fuel or Wood Burning stove.. What’s the difference?

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Traditionally, stoves were intended to burn wood and only wood, then multi-fuel stoves were created to give you the option of heating your home with either coal or wood.      So , ..    Multi Fuel or Wood Burning stove ?
First off, you should know that it is NOT advisable to burn both coal and wood in your stove at the same time as this can and will damage your flue lining and stove itself. 

Why is it not wise to mix fuels 

Why can’t you mix fuels ? because corrosive materials such as halogens and sulphur found in coal will combine with the moisture in wood creating nasty, Sulphurous acid & other solutions that stick to and then erodes your whole stove system.
Whilst multi-fuel stoves bring with them the versatility of being able to choose which fuel you’d rather use at a particular time , their one limitation is the use of  ONLY One fuel at a time! Mixing fuels is not cool ! 

Only coal as fuel? ..Simple use Smokeless

You should always check your owner’s manual for the final word from the manufacturer on what fuels are recommended for use. Although most multi-fuel stoves are equipped to burn normal house coal, (aka bituminous coal) often most stove manufacturers will advise against this because of the high amount of soot in house coal.
**High soot content results in your stove system becoming rapidly clogged up**.
Using smokeless coal avoids this problem by agglomerating particles and reducing the amount of smoke and soot going up your flue , is also better for the environment and thus suitable for use in smoke control areas.

Knowing which stove is which , just by what you can see 

Multi Fuel or Wood Burning stove , the most obvious examples you can see immediately by eye are the:

1. External primary PRC & SRC secondary air flow regulator controls and 
2. Internal raised grate of multi fuel burners or the flat bottom non grate of wood burners.

Coal burns best on a ‘raised grate’ since it needs an air supply from below. Therefore , the primary airflow intake is below and its manually adjustable Primary Regulator Control outside (usually, somewhere near the bottom of the stove door & is normally either a sliding slat or turning knob/disc) is used to burn it effectively.

multi fuel burner showing SRC & PRC annotated in green Multi Fuel or Wood Burning stove

1. The PRC [below discs]  &  SRC [above slats] Regulatory Controls of a multi-burner

Wood doesn’t need this additional air supply below therefore , wood burners come with only a ‘flat bottom‘ . This limits the air supply to the fuel, resulting in a slower burn and you will see they ONLY have a top secondary air flow intake with manually adjustable Secondary Regulator Control. 

****        The adjustable multifuel grate in the picture below shows it can be both raised (top) allowing upwards air flow or it can be flattened (bottom) stopping upwards air flow from below.    ****

multi fuel adjustable grate Multi Fuel or Wood Burning stove

2. Multifuel adjustable Stove Grate

You will find that wood burns faster on a multifuel stove than on a normal wood-burning stove because of the extra oxygen and air flow from below. 

side view of multifuel stove showing air intakes Multi Fuel or Wood Burning stove

3. Primary, Secondary & Tertiary air intakes .. stove door to Left of pic

So what do I want to buy then?

In short , what to buy depends on what you are going to burn? If you’re thinking of using wood as your main fuel then it’s best to buy a wood-burning stove. By buying a multi-fuel stove, you are already almost committed to coal being your main fuel (but keeping the option open to burn wood if need be, albeit at a lower efficiency) and wood as an option.

Therefore , for the reasons already mentioned above , smokeless coal is your prime candidate fuel for a multi fuel stove. So you will be considering Anthracite, as well as a host of brand name alternatives such as Taybrite and Phurnacite. 
However , as you will see in our article on stainless steel liners there are some drawbacks to using these smokeless fuels. 

 Things to keep in mind::

1. Normal house coal is cheaper but too dirty for stoves 
2. Smokeless is expensive and more corrosive but burns clean enough & is better to use in stoves than bituminous
3. Unless you have a free source of weathered hard woods then having a multifuel means using smokeless coal IS the option. 
4. Don’t ever use wood and coal together at same time, water in wood dissolves sulphur in coal creating sulphurous acid !! ALL coal has sulphur , some worse than others.
5. Best to have a china hat/cowl to deflect water ingress. All lum/flue dampness causes sulphurous acid corrosion, esp with smokeless fuel
6. Smaller (within stove capacity) hotter hardwood fires are cleaner and don’t ruin baffle-plates or warp stoves
7. Read about liners on this site, 316 SS for wood and 906 for Anthracites NB/ sulphur ~ halogen corrosives
8. In olden days damper plates were used to control burning[often slumbering Tutt Tutt!!] by choking the fumes exhaust rather than the air intake itself reducing combustion. This is dangerous due to the accumulation of toxins rather than reducing their creation in combustion control itself. 

Using a wood [you see SRC only ! Flat Grate] only stove:-
You would be controlling the flames ONLY by the Secondary air flow intake [see picture 1 above] by manually adjusting the Secondary Regulator Control. Correct settings would be seen as curling yellow flames emanating from the mixture of gases combusting above the fuel on the grate.

Using a multi [you see PRC & SRC Raised Grate] fuel stove:-
You would control the main flames by using the Primary Regulator Control [see picture 1 above] then adjust further also with more tighter control to satisfactory conditions by the SRC [see picture 1 above]. Visually blue/orange flames would be seen below and yellow ones above the fuel.

Enter the Autumn/winter season 2015

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Enter the Autumn/winter season 2015

So we have been ticking over through this summer , no galavanting for me this year. My cousin Sam is now working with me and is pleasure to work with; so maybe keeping it in the family is working out ok.

Going to be looking at marketing and advertising more this year to see if we can increase our customer base. So don’t be surprised if you get a flyer or see something about us somewhere. Our official start of season is September the first this year 1/9/2015 and will as usual run till approximately the 20th of December.

A brief history of Chimney Sweeping

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A brief history of Chimney Sweeping

Even in the Georgian period of history of chimney sweeping, it was understood that chimneys had to be brush cleaned. Back then the 17th century Master Sweep of the day would employ small boys to climb and scramble up chimneys. The task for these climbing boys was to brush clean the inside of the flue with small hand-held brushes and they also used metal scrapers to remove the harder tar deposits left by wood or log fire smoke.

The boys were apprentices and were bound to the trade as young as seven years old. A Master was paid a fee to clothe, keep and teach the child his trade. Sweeps’ Boys were usually parish children or orphans; though others were sold into the trade by their families. Some grew up to be Journeymen (assistants to the Master) and the remainder were put out to various trades to try to learn a new occupation. There was even a London Society of Master Sweeps with its own set of rules, one of which included that boys were not required to work on Sundays but had to attend Sunday School, to study, learn and read the Bible.

However, conditions for the boys were harsh and often cruel, they slept in cellars on bags of soot and were seldom washed. It was a dangerous and filthy job for the boys to do, especially without the protection of modern safety clothing and respirators. Years of accumulated soot and grime often produced chimney sweeps cancer (of the testicles).There are many recorded instances where these Climbing Boys choked and suffocated to death by dust inhalation whilst attempting to clean chimneys. Casualties were also often due to boys becoming stuck in narrow flues or falling from climbing rotten chimney stacks.

It took many years and campaigns before Acts of Parliament finally approved by the House of Lords outlawed the use of Climbing Boys. In 1864 Lord Shaftesbury brought in the “Act for the Regulation of Chimney Sweepers” which established a penalty of £10.00 for offenders.

In the early part of the 18th century various types of chimney cleaning methods were being developed. An engineer from Bristol, Mr. Joseph Glass is widely recognised as the inventor of the chimney cleaning equipment which has become universal even to this day. His was the design and introduction of canes and brushes, which could be pushed and propelled up from the fireplace into the chimney above. Early canes were made of Malacca and imported from the East Indies and brushes were made of whale bones.

1800'sThe other method of cleaning flues that was developed originally came from the Continent – Europe (and was adopted in Scotland because of the historical contacts we had with Europe) was the ball, brush and rope system which was lowered down from the top of the chimney. The weight of the lead or iron ball pulls the brush down, cleaning the chimney. With the Industrial Revolution and ever greater demand for coal production, chimney sweeps grew in numbers. In Victorian London, there were over 1,000 chimney sweeps serving the area.
The continued expansion of coal as the main fuel for domestic heating ensured that the sweeping trade flourished. This was up to the early 1960s when gas began to be installed and replace coal as a source of domestic heating. The switch to gas continued in the seventies and many of the old-established family sweeps retired or gave up the business. Until this period, sweeps had traditionally cleaned only coal, wood and oil chimneys. Public awareness of the need for clean, safe and clear chimneys was almost non-existent but Carbon monoxide poisonings from blocked chimneys began to be noticed.

Above text copyright Martin Glynn, President of The National Association of Chimney Sweeps (Used & adapted without permission). You can read more here on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimney_sweep