If you're thinking of reinstating an old fireplace, there are a few things to consider.
To find out if you live in a smoke control area, contact your local council. They should be able to tell you very quickly if you live within a smoke control area or not.
There is a risk that the chimney may not be sound, and that smoke may leak into the house when you light a fire. This might be fatal, and so it’s required that the chimney sweep checks for this. They should issue you a certificate stating that your chimney is sound before you can start using your fireplace again.
If your chimney is not sound, you may need a chimney lining. These are usually double skinned stainless steel flexible tubes that are fed into your old chimney. These chimney linings can be quite expensive, costing around £50 a meter. For a chimney on the ground floor of a 2 storey house, you may need around 7.5m of lining, which would come to a total of £375. Add to this the cost of fitting, and you’re looking at about £1200 to be able to use your chimney again.
A Victorian fireplace could cost as little as £100 from an architectual salvage yard, in comparison to around £500 for a new small wood stove, or multi fuel stove. Fitting of a stove could cost you around £500, and covers the installation of the stove itself, and the "register plate". The "register plate" is used to cover the chimney access, leaving a place for a pipe from the stove and an access hole for sweeping the chimney.
You may need to fit a hearth if one doe not not exist already.
Building regulations state that the stove should be on a plinth of
non-combustible material extending at least 150mm at the sides and
300mm in front. A slate stone, for example can be fitted to a
concrete base for this.
Never let a skip of wood pass you by! Most people will be only too happy to let you take scrap wood from their skip, but do ask first. Site clearances for new housing developments are always worth a look too. Often, when trees are cleared the builders have to pay for their removal, and will be only too happy to let you take all the wood you want.
You‚'ll need a bow saw, a chainsaw and a splitting axle to cut your own logs to size. Learning to use a chainsaw correctly is also very important. They can be very dangerous if used incorrectly.
Wood takes anything between 3 months and a year to dry before it is ready to burn. There are some timeless poems on the properties of different trees as firewood which are a great way to learn about the types of wood you can use.
Tree Identification is also an important skill if you are looking at sourcing your own firewood. The smell of different types of timber is often a good way of identifying it’s origin. Oak, for example smells a little like chocolate (to me), and the smell of pine is unmistakable. Even cutting into 100 year old pine floorboards will give off a strong smell of a pine forest.
Collecting, storing and burning wood to heat your home may take more effort than turning on the central heating, but it is a very rewarding activity. What could be a better way of putting yourself in touch with nature, than by burning it?!