The work is progressing on refurbishing our house to have a lower energy demand. We already had the cavity walls insulated, and now work to install a wood-burning stove with a boiler is in progress.
Before a stove and flue liner can be installed, the chimney has to be swept, as once the liner is in then whatever is still in the old chimney is stuck there. I'd wondered whether I should sweep the chimney myself in future, but after seeing all the kit that the sweep brought with him, I think it's best to leave it to the professionals! The sweep also gives you a certificate to prove the chimney has been swept, which is important for house insurance in the event of a fire.
Our stove installer recommend a chimney sweep for us to use, Mark from Chim Chiminey Sweeps.
The first thing he did was lay down protective sheets and get his industrial-sized vacuum cleaner ready, then he threaded the pole attached to a brush through a protective cloth:
This cloth was then taped round the fireplace:
and Mark fed the poles in to push the brush up the chimney, attaching more as he went:
After a few minutes, the brush appeared out the top of the chimney...
and the job was done! Apparently our chimney was pretty straightforward - some aren't so easy.
After the brush was removed there was some soot to collect, but not too much:
A quick final clean with the vacuum was the last bit:
When he comes back in a year, he'll do it differently, as the brush will be smaller, and will need to go through the stove to get into the flue.
Mike
Related posts:
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Eco-refurbishment - sweeping the chimney
Ashden Awards 2010 ceremony video
Many of you know I work for the Ashden Awards. Well, here's a short video of what our work led to in the 2010 Awards Ceremony. Featured are Louis Theroux, Neil MacGregor, Shami Chakrabarti, Anna Ford and Sir David Attenborough.
Mike
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Ellen MacArthur - Full Circle
Yesterday I went to hear Ellen MacArthur talk about her book, Full Circle, which doesn't just cover her round-the-world yachting expeditions, but also explains why she's given up competitive sailing to campaign on sustainability. I've done a short write-up of it on the Ashden Awards blog.
Mike
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Canoeing on the Brecon & Monmouthshire canal
Last weekend I went canoeing in Wales with a few friends. We had intended to go on the River Wye, but it was in flood and we'd probably have made it about 100m down before capsizing and losing all our kit, so the canoe hire company wouldn't let us go. Instead, they took us to to Brecon, to canoe on the Brecon & Monmouthshire Canal. While this was less exciting, it was actually very relaxing and enjoyable, as you can see from Phil's laid-back attitude here (note that we were using a disposable waterproof camera, so the quality isn't great):
Fortunately it was sunny, and we were able to cruise along enjoying the scenery, drinking a beer or two as we went.
There was the occasional drawbridge as an obstacle and we had to carry the canoes round, although this one we managed to squeeze under by lying down in the canoes:
Jim also found that kayaks don't work on land:
So we got him in the river:
but then he just ran into the bank:
Actually he was very good in the kayak, I expect one of us had just rammed him off course to get that last photo!
We were staying at the Baskerville Hall hotel (yes, it really is the one that inspired the Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), which does some very cheap bunk rooms, and staying there also gets you free entry to the infamous on-site club, Clyro Court. I say 'infamous' as we'd been there before a few years ago and knew what we were letting ourselves in for! Some may ask why we went back...
Anyway, it was a good weekend and great to catch up with old friends.
Mike
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
HUGE mushrooms and other stuff in the woods
OK, Saturday's star of the show has to be this huge bolete:
Not sure what kind, but maybe an Orange Birch Bolete? Next one I know, the imaginatively named Brown Birch Bolete, also pretty big:
This next set is interesting. When we coppiced round the pond a few years ago, we left some birch logs on the side, and they are now covered with Sulphur Tuft:
They're in quite a damp spot, but just over a few metres away, on the other side of the pond are some more logs in a drier spot:
but these have no Sulphur Tuft, just some kind of Turkey Tail:
There's loads of other fungi out too, and I don't know what they are:
Although I do know this last one, Fly Agaric:
I got some interesting insect photos too, such as this hornet nest in an oak tree:
and this beetle making a home and dragging dung into it:
I also spent a while stood in the wayleave trying to get pictures of dragonflies in the air. It's not very easy to be quick enough and get them in focus, and I need some more practice, but here's my initial attempts:
Along the footpath, or "wildlife corridor", the bit of the track that got muddy last winter has recovered brilliantly with the light it's getting, and is now grassing over:
The rain's probably helped too, and has certainly filled our makeshift rainwater harvesting behind the firewood shelter:
The sun and rain has also helped the coppice growing from last year's cutting. Bear in mind that all the trees in these photos have only been growing since this Spring! Ash and Hazel:
Sweet Chestnut (with me for scale):
Ash:
Hazel, but this time one that's been grazed, presumably by deer:
We were also pleased to see this Rowan (Mountain Ash) doing well along the footpath. We clearly avoided it while felling there in 2008/9, but I don't remember seeing it before. No doubt it's healthier for the light it's now getting, and it had a few berries on it.
One more tree, and no idea how these got here. Horse Chestnut at the top of Sweep Wood, near the road:
Last but not least some flowers from Sweep Wood, including a Violet:
A Nightshade:
Something I don't recognise:
and a Snapdragon, which has clearly escaped from a nearby garden!
These were all growing in this patch near the top, which is teeming with life:
Nice to watch it develop over the seasons...
That's all for now.
Mike
