Chimney and flue issues - technical question

[ThompsonTwins]

House I have just bought has a flame gas fire I cannot use at present as the chimney has been capped off. Instead of having the chimney unblocked etc, can some other kind of flue be constructed through the wall from the back of the fire (my garden is on the other side)? The house is a double lower (2 floors) with a flat above. High ceilings, so the roof is high (just thinking of £££££ for scaffolding towers etc).

I want to be well informed before asking chimney firms to come in and quote - I do not know of any and do not want to inadvertantly pick cowboys out of the yellow pages or from websites.

[DaisySteiner]

You could have a twin walled flue put through the side of the house, extending upwards past the top of the existing chimney. However, it would be extremely expensive - well in excess of 3K just for the chimney itself I would guess. Unblocking and relining the chimney would be much cheaper. Have a look at the hetas website - all their people are certified to do this work without building control sign-off.

[greentown]

I think the safety concerns would be around any fumes entering windows above the flue. But there is a specified 'safe' distance. I've had a ground floor flue and an opening window on the 2nd floor. I'm sure I've seen closer flues than that too.

[ThompsonTwins]

Thank you both for your replies. I will look at the hetas website and find out about window heights above the flue.

[DOLLYDAYDREAMER]

Hi - before we had our woodburner installed we had a balanced flue flame-effect Gas fire - the flue goes out the wall like the one on any gas boiler - so no chimney needed - there are restrictions on how far from opening windows / doors etc. so fumes dont come back inside - ours was by Focal Point Fires - i think they are in Bournemouth - should be able to find out more on t'internet

[Fizzylemonade]

Yes, like DOLLY you should be able to have a balanced flue fire where they drill horizontally through an outside wall and there is a little box that goes on the outside wall.

[PigletJohn]

although the gas fire you have got is probably not suitable for a balanced flue. The sort that would work for that has the flames enclosed behind glass so it is sealed off from the room. These are to my eye much less attractive than open coals, though they are a lot more efficient as they don't send a lot of heat up the chimney to warm the birds.