Chimney rain hat

[Lightspeed]

Our main chimney is a big old brute. It was built in the days of permanently running wood burning stoves, it is big enough to walk into.

But we no longer burn wood every day, and therein lies a problem: That big aperture also lets rain in. Rain that in the past was instantly turned to steam, but which now accumulates at its base, making the building core damp and the lover level of the chimney cold and humid.

Over the past year we have occasionally had problems firing up the stove. Problems of combustion fumes flooding the room rather than being sucked up the chimney. Straightshooter and Mrs Straightshooter have been very supportive in offering solutions to this. ( Thanks mate). It was noticeable that if the fire was lit while the chimney system was still warm, chimney draw was fine, but when the chimney went cold the problems started again. The solution appeared to be the installation of a chimney liner.... In our case this will be costly and awkward.

We'd noticed a lot of farm houses around here have rain hats on their chimneys, so thought we'd try with one of those first.... and its been a revelation. The chimney base has dried out, walls are no longer damp and most importantly the stove lights cleanly first time, every time. My thinking is that previously cold, humid air ( heavy) was pooling at the chimney base and presenting a pressure barrier to the fire-up combustion fumes, that were forced to follow path of lower resistance to escape, and that meant through the hot plate into the room.

So two problems cured in a single swipe. Cost was approx. £100. A whole lot cheaper than a new chimney liner...