The correct installation of a stove is our most commonly asked question. All too often, conflicting advice from the box movers leads to great confusion. Here we hope to explain the viewpoint of many of the leading stove manufacturers, industry experts, and building control documentation, along with our very own Northern Ireland Association of Chimney Sweeps.

It is a condition of building regulations that a flue should be reduced in diameter to suit the appliance intended. Therefore if your stove manufacturer has a 150mm (6") outlet on the stove, then you should be aiming to ensure this diameter throughout the flue. There are a number of ways to provide this flue requirement, and we aim to explain them here.

With the correct diameter of flue, your stove will give you the heat and efficiency your manufacturer claims you should be getting. An 'over rated' flue will reduce the performance of the stove, and will also lead to dangerous tars, creosote and condensate build up inside the chimney, a major cause of serious chimney fires. These tars can also stain walls and run down the outside of stovepipe, and drip onto stoves.

Stoves are designed to burn slowly and under control for long periods; therefore it is critical to have an equally efficient flue system to maintain these low flue gas temperatures. It is a simple lesson in physics. Using a good quality flue is a critical component in the installation of an appliance. An engine in a car will work well as long as the exhaust is correctly configured. Consideration should be taken with regards to the costs associated with the flue when selecting the stove as a complete package.

Chimney systems are not made of glass, so the condition of weaker flue is not easily evident to the homeowner. It is prudent to use better quality flue to ensure peace of mind. Cheaper Internet flue or plumbing centre products may be easier on the pocket short term, but can prove costly after a few years of use. Often companies interested in box moving alone do not discuss the issues of quality flues, if they discuss them at all, in a misguided fear of losing a sale. Perhaps this is why it is better to seek the advice of a registered chimney technician before purchasing your appliance.

It appears to be the case that having you purchase the unit first, to find out at a later date that the advice you were given was not accurate, is the way many of these rogue retailers conduct themselves in business. It is normally the registered chimney sweeps in the province that help pick up the pieces of these shoddy installations. These pages are designed to inform you, hopefully before you make that purchase, of what is involved.

Most registered chimney technicians in the province use Docherty Chimney Group products, which are considered to be industry leaders in quality and reliability. We are stockists of these products and will not consider using anything else. Our registered technicians prefer to use the best quality flue, with a 20-year warranty, and know we can sleep safe knowing that you can too.