Damaged flue - Go for a flueless gas fire?

3CC

Registered User
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Hi,

I found a few fragments on chimney flue last time I cleaned the chimney. Given that our house was built in around 1970, I presume that the flue is coming to the end of it's useful life.

I did consider re-lining but I would prefer a more efficient solution than an open fire anyway. I am wondering is a flueless fire would be the answer. Seal up the chimney and stick in the flueless gas fire. Any comments?

Many Thanks,

3CC
 
What about a fuel burning stove with its own flue which will fit inside your existing damaged flue?
 
We recently had two flues in our 1950's house relined with lightweight concrete. Cost £980 +VAT per flue. Job was done in a day and flues are now fine; 20 year warranty. I assume that you have similar companies working over there; have you had a quote?
 
We recently had two flues in our 1950's house relined with lightweight concrete. Cost £980 +VAT per flue. Job was done in a day and flues are now fine; 20 year warranty. I assume that you have similar companies working over there; have you had a quote?

No, I did not have a quote yet but I estimate that it will cost €1500 incl VAT from some googling I have done. I was hoping to avoid that cost by putting in a flueless gas fire. In our last house, we only ever put the gas fire on very occasionally so I am not sure a €1500 repair plus the cost of a normal fire is justified.
 
Why not, is because you rely on a cat-converter in the appliance to re-oxygenate the carbon monoxide to carbon-dioxide........!

Most gas installers seem to dislike them
 
You will be opening yourself to highly toxic fumes from your gas-fired heating if you do not ensure you have a fully-functioning flue in the room where this appliance is installed.

Gas appliances produce carbon monoxide as a by-poduct. As I am sure you are aware, this is highly toxic to animals and humans in fairly low concentrations. This gas is colourless, odourless and tasteless. Because of this, you will have no way of detecting its presence.

You could rely on a modern catalytic converter to remove these toxins from the atmosphere, but if this system ceases to function correctly, you will not be aware of this until it is too late! It may be more expensive to replace the original flue, but you need to weigh this one-off cost against the permanent cost if the cat-converter contributes to the loss of loved ones.
 
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