There are a multitude of common misconceptions surrounding how a stove operates and in this series of Why Doesn’t My Stove Work? articles, we hope to dispel the myths and clearly underline the actual causes and simple solutions.

First and foremost, it is essential to recognise that the flue (chimney) is the engine that powers a stove. The basic fact is a closed heating appliance such as a wood burning stove without a flue will not work (and vice versa if you felt the need to try that).

There is a lot of ‘science stuff’ going on inside your flue system that powers your stove and below are three main driving factors:

• It is not the heat of the stove or flue pipes themselves that draw air into your stove, it is the affect heat has on the density of the molecules within the gases. The warmer the gas, the lighter the molecules, the more encouraged they are to rise. Reversely, the colder the gases, the heavier the molecules and the more likely they are to slump or drop back down the system. Therefore, if the molecules within the gases inside the chimney system are warmer than the molecules within the air outside the chimney system, the gases inside the flue will rise as the air outside sinks and rushes in to fill the space left by the rising warm air (put simply), thus creating the magical draw!
• Taking the above into consideration, the greater the temperature difference between the flue gases and the air outside, the greater the draw. Simple.
• Thirdly (but crucially), the height of the flue system affects things as the taller the system, the greater the change in pressure which also encourages a stronger draw.

So what is Spring & Autumn syndrome? This is concerned with how quickly temperatures can change around these times of year. If the temperature outside should happen to rise quickly then this can easily surpass the temperature within the home. Warm outside vs cool inside equals a reversal of the draw as air flows down the system rather than drawing up.

Should this reversal of draw occur, you will not know until you attempt to light your stove. The lighting cycle will begin but the air coming down your system will force smoke out of the stove into your living space and prevent any hot air from rising into the flue to remedy things.

So how do you avoid this situation?

Firstly, test the direction of the draw before lighting it! Even without a fire burning, there is a draw of sorts happening in your flue and there are ways to find out which direction this is flowing; by hand or is a smell of soot being pushed out of the flue?

Secondly, should the draw be in reverse, you can encourage it back up the system by artificially warming the air within the flue. Some use a hair dryer, others a blow torch.

But, here at Glowing Embers we have a top tip! Stack your fuel in reverse. Logs on the base, kindling on top and firelighters on top of this. This is a tried and tested method in our showroom because the heat produced by initially the firelighters and then the kindling is directed up into the flue and not down into the fire bed, thus warming the flue above first. You will most likely experience a little smoke at first but if stacked and controlled well, the flue should warm reasonably quickly and the stove kick into life…

When a flue system passes through the roof of a property, the hole that must be cut in the surface will always be larger than the overall diameter of the flue pipe due to safe clearances to combustible materials. For example, a twin wall pipe with an overall diameter of 200mm will typically require a hole in the roof cut to at least a diameter of 300mm… This is where a Roof Flashing steps in.

A Roof Flashing is designed to provide a weather proof seal at this point by covering the hole with a base plate and providing a water tight seal around the flue with the silicone collar.

Generally, Roof Flashings can be separated into one of two types; suitable for tiled roofs or suitable for every other roof type such as profiled, corrugated, felt, wooden and so on.

Tiled Roof Flashings

These Flashings sit on a malleable, aluminium base, designed to be secured beneath the roof tiles for ultimate weather proofing. The silicone cone upper portion will be pre-set to a 20° angle to accommodate the standard pitch of a residential roof. As all flashings are designed to accommodate a range of pipe diameters, the silicone cone portion is simply then cut away to the desired width for your flue pipe.

Non-Tiled Roof Flashings

This form of Flashing features the same silicone upper cone but set at 90° for flat roofs. The base features an aluminium strip around the edge rather than a base plate to allow the product to contour to any roof type, especially handy when it comes to corrugated roofs. It is through this strip that you can secure the Flashing on top of the roof surface and again, as all flashings are designed to accommodate a range of pipe diameters, the silicone cone portion is simply cut away to the desired width for your flue pipe.

Low or High Temperature Flashing?

Depending on the type of pipe being used and distance from the stove, you may select either low or high temperature resistant Flashing. As the hottest point of any system is the connection to the stove itself, it is the distance from this that we judge which type of Flashing you will need:

• Is your Flashing going to be within 5m of the stove itself? Then you require a high temperature Flashing

• If your Flashing going to be over 5m of the stove itself? Then a low temperature Flashing will do.

It is a common misconception that using insulated Twin Wall flue means you only require a low temperature Flashing. This is incorrect and the above should be observed as a rule of thumb.

Tip – If you have a particularly steep pitch to your roof, it is advisable to purchase the next size up Flashing to accommodate this.

Glowing Embers supplies leading brands of Flashings and fixing kits to meet the needs of every install and roof type and a range of sealants such as Envirograf Silicone, perfect for sealing external applications.