DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

I'm hoping someone can help us with a problem we are having at the moment with a new wood burning stove.

We had an Aga Much Wenlock fitted a few weeks ago now and have used it 3 times. Our house is joined on to another house and their chimney is right next to ours. We do know that upon testing our chimney with a smoke bomb before we fitted the stove, smoke did seep through their fireplace into their living room which obviously means that their fireplace isn't completely sealed.

We had someone round to fit a chimney liner and we also had our chimney swept. The first time we used our stove, our neighbours said they were experiencing a strange odour in their living room which wasn't a smoke smell. We were all rather puzzled as there was no smell in our living room where our stove is sited.

The second time we used the stove, they said again that they were having a strange smell in their living room. We were still puzzled but did notice that the bedroom which is above our living room (it has an open fire in it) also had a strange smell in it.

The third time we used it, yet again they said there was a strange smell in their house. We went into every room in our house and the only room where we noticed a slight smell was the bedroom above our living room.

Any ideas?

The installer did use a heat resistant spray paint on the register plate. Could it be this? This was the first thing we thought of but as we're not experiencing the smell in our living room we are unsure.

The chimney has never been lined and as we live in an old house, we were wondering whether it could be old soot up the chimney getting hot and therefore giving off an unusual odour? This would explain why the neighbours are experiencing the smell rather than us as their fireplace isn't sealed properly.

There is not smoke smell anyway so we presume the liner isn't leaking but are completely baffled with this unusual odour.

Any ideas would be very much appreciated!

If you haven't used a liner then the products of combustion eg CARBON MONOXIDE could be leaking into the bedroom and your neighbours. Carbon monoxide is poisonous and lethal.

My advice would be to stop using the stove and get it checked before doing so again by HETAS person.

if you have lined the chimley all the way up which should be done the strabnge smell could just be the smell of you wood buriner when new . the first couple of times will give a strange smell but this should stop. if the smell dose not stop somthing is wrong.

If the chimney has had the liner installed correctly, one continuous liner, sealed at the top and bottom and it wasn't damaged before or during the install then there's no way that the smell they're experiencing is fumes/products of combustion.

But this is a big if - and you wont know for sure unless you used reputable installers for the flue liner, it may be worth getting them back to check it over.

You could use smoke pellets to make sure there's nothing entering or coming out of the terminals of the other flues/chimney's. A good test - if you're able to, is to cover your new terminal with a bag or similar and carry out the smoke tests.

For peace of mind I'd buy a few CO alarms for rooms adjoining the appliance, as these don't have any safety devices like gas appliances.

htg