The Chimney Sweep

The Chimney Sweep The chimney sweep is a page for chimney related blogs, techniques, general solid fuel/chimney industry knowledge and reviews.

The chimney sweep is a page for chimney related product reviews, blogs, techniques and general chimney knowledge

16/12/2025

Carbon Monoxide – What You Need to Know

• Carbon monoxide (CO) is invisible, odourless and tasteless. If you can smell fumes, it’s already a problem.
• Any fuel-burning appliance can produce CO if it’s faulty, poorly installed, blocked or badly ventilated.
• Early symptoms are headache, dizziness, nausea and fatigue – often mistaken for flu or tiredness.
• Fit an audible CO alarm in the same room as every solid fuel appliance and test it regularly.
• Have appliances and flues checked by a competent professional. A sweep isn’t optional – it’s life safety.

Quiet gas. Serious risk. Preventable.


11/12/2025

🧹🔥 QUESTION FOR UK HOMEOWNERS:
Would your insurer actually cover you after a chimney fire if you haven’t maintained your flue properly?

Many UK insurers state that the homeowner must properly maintain the chimney or flue — and in a lot of cases that means having it swept by a qualified professional and being able to show proof if something goes wrong.

If a fire investigator or loss adjuster finds:
• a blocked flue
• tar/soot buildup
• no recent sweep
• or no evidence of maintenance

…your insurer could argue the fire was caused by poor upkeep and reject or reduce the claim.
Some policies explicitly mention “failure to maintain chimneys” as a reason to refuse payouts.

It’s worth checking your policy wording before winter hits.

When was your last sweep — and do you have proof if your insurer asks for it?

— Sweep Safe 🔥🧹

08/12/2025

Did You Know?

It is perfectly legal, acceptable, and sensible to cut, store, split, and season your own firewood in the UK.

Firewood does not have to be bought from a supermarket.
It doesn’t need fancy branding or specialist packaging.
It doesn’t need to be anything special.

Good, ordinary hardwood logs are ideal — and they’re often cheap when sourced from local tree surgeons or tree fellers who are glad to see it used properly rather than chipped or wasted.

The part that really matters isn’t where the wood comes from — it’s how dry it is.

For clean, efficient burning:
• Logs must be properly seasoned
• Moisture content should be below 20%
• This usually takes 12–24 months, depending on wood type, size, and storage

Dry wood burns hotter, cleaner, protects your appliance, and dramatically reduces soot, creosote, and chimney problems. Wet wood does the opposite.

Know your wood.
Dry it properly.
Burn it safely.


07/12/2025

Most people don’t realise this.

Although wood-burning stoves aren’t designed as cookers, in an emergency many of them can be used to cook food.

The top plate often gets hot enough to boil a kettle, heat soup, or cook simple meals. With a bit of care, a trivet or cast-iron pan, and some common sense, a stove can become a temporary lifeline when power or gas isn’t available.

This isn’t about turning your stove into a kitchen range or doing anything unsafe. It’s about understanding the tools you already have and their unexpected resilience when systems fail.

Knowledge like this used to be normal. Now it’s quietly useful again.

Roots and resilience aren’t about panic — they’re about calm adaptability when it matters.

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