Stoves in Ayrshire
As is normal for me i have been swotting up on several parts of the trade including how it operates in Germany , both our histories and i am considering undertaking some education in correct stove installation. I only need find a decent education on the subject and i am all in.
In Ayrshire we come across many varied types of stoves and sometimes, unfortunately, the installation quality can vary too. I have been led to believe that on occasion stoves and other heating appliances come in container loads of inferior and cheap quality. When you couple bad quality stoves with poor quality installation materials (such as the wrong choice of flue pipe liner) and the installation itself is also bad, then it is not only dangerous to the owners but can make life interesting for us too at times.Ultimately, the end result can be anything from monoxide poisoning to a chimney fire (see this video on how chimney fires work: Controlled Chimney Fire ) . The resulting damage can be catastrophic to your premises. You know the old saying though?… you pay peanuts you get monkeys a.k.a you get what you pay for …is mostly true!
In fact, after a few run-ins with stoves that had 90 degree bends attached or T-bends behind flush to the wall (both of which are no-no’s) soon proved that normal good old bailey rods were unsuitable and i would have to explore other options. This was when i came across the term power sweeping and began to explore the alternative equipment available out there. Although we had to import our equipment from the USA with all the included taxes & postage etc, the power sweeping equipment has proved invaluable many times over, the rods are so flexible they can still rotate in a horseshoe position.
I have already looked at and mentioned HETAS elsewhere in my posts What is Hetas and when i last looked they seemed to be the up and coming body for England & Wales but at this exact moment i still think here (not looked lately) in Scotland there are as such no regulations yet i.e. monkey stove installers are running amok in many cases. Many stoves too are also being home installed themselves… which i generally don’t have many problems with if done correctly. Another thing we often find is lack of debris/register plates or they are fixed with materials like mastic instead of thick angle iron. Ideally, these plates that fill the gap around the flue pipe and the often rectangular gap of an old fireplace should have some kind of access hatch, especially if there is no liner. They should also be made from sheet zinc galvanised metal; not plasterboard or any flammable material.
This is just the status quo here in Ayrshire (and i’m guessing much of Scotland today still) and has been for a while. The diversity of stoves, fireplaces and various assorted heating appliances often present sometimes significant challenges which can be fun to solve but can also be occasionally impossible. Sometimes as they say you need to know when to just walk away. Even though time, fuel and money have been spent getting to the job; I still occasionally find it uncomfortable asking some people for a call out fee. This is the nature of the modern chimney sweeps job, we all have bills to pay.
Downloadable Document~J Building regulations for the installation of solid fuel heating appliances
The building regulations for heating appliance installations enforced in England and Wales according to document J, can be downloaded for free here: > Document J heating appliance regulations in England & Wales