Cooley Hats on chimneys

[Jim and Paula]

In case anyone is interested…..

 

For the past number of winters, we have had an 18 inch double skin chimney stack with a Cooley hat fitted. We have also been plagued by ‘brown fluids’ dripping off the Cooley had and staining the roof – it’s almost impossible to remove the staining.

 

About 6 weeks or so ago, the Cooley hat got knocked off the roof and lost into the depths of the Grand Union. Since loosing the hat, we have had no more problems with the ‘brown fluids’. It would appear that the Cooley hat has been doing more harm than good and we will not be replacing it.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Several people here have come to the same conclusion - when the stove is lit. But of course if there a heavy rainstorm when the fire is out, it will just run down your chimney and start to rust your stove. Make sure you have some sort of cover on when not using the stove.

 

Mac

[MoominPapa]

Several people here have come to the same conclusion - when the stove is lit. But of course if there a heavy rainstorm when the fire is out, it will just run down your chimney and start to rust your stove. Make sure you have some sort of cover on when not using the stove.

 

Mac

Cooley hats are great if the stove isn't lit all the time (so needs protecting from rain), but is lit some of the time (so a cover is no good). When leaving after visiting the boat for the day, we leave the stove with the air control shut right down, but the stove is still alight and hot, so we can't put a cover on the chimney. A coolie hat is perfect to let the smoke out and keep the rain out until the next weekend.

 

MP.

[Mac of Cygnet]

A coolie hat is perfect to let the smoke out and keep the rain out until the next weekend.

 

MP.

 

Are you implying that you go away and leave the boat for a week with the stove still on? I don't think I'd do that. Anyway, having seen my coolie hat actually blow off in a gale, I don't think I'd rely on it when away from the boat.

 

Mac

[Laurie Booth]

Are you implying that you go away and leave the boat for a week with the stove still on? I don't think I'd do that. Anyway, having seen my coolie hat actually blow off in a gale, I don't think I'd rely on it when away from the boat.

 

Mac

I do

[MoominPapa]

Are you implying that you go away and leave the boat for a week with the stove still on? I don't think I'd do that. Anyway, having seen my coolie hat actually blow off in a gale, I don't think I'd rely on it when away from the boat.

 

Mac

Yes. The fire is pretty run down by then, and I shut the air control tight, but what other choice do I have? To get the stove cold I'd have to start letting it cool down before I'd even lit it in the morning. I've welded my coollie hat on, so it shouldn't blow away (though the wind was strong enough overnight on Friday to dislodge the boatpoles from the rack on the roof, so anything is possible out there in the flatlands).

 

 

MP

[Chertsey]

Yes. The fire is pretty run down by then, and I shut the air control tight, but what other choice do I have? To get the stove cold I'd have to start letting it cool down before I'd even lit it in the morning. I've welded my coollie hat on, so it shouldn't blow away (though the wind was strong enough overnight on Friday to dislodge the boatpoles from the rack on the roof, so anything is possible out there in the flatlands).

 

 

MP

I've been known to chuck hot coals in the cut. Wasteful but very satisfying.

[Mac of Cygnet]

I do

 

OK, fair enough, but a man who consorts with Daleks is capable of anything.

[casper ghost]

Hi. I started another thread on a similar topic. I have now filled the gap between the doubles skins of my chimney and can confirm that since doing that I have had no tar stains on my roof. I do have a cooley hat but it doesn't seem to get any tar deposits on it that could drip off.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Hi. I started another thread on a similar topic. I have now filled the gap between the doubles skins of my chimney and can confirm that since doing that I have had no tar stains on my roof. I do have a cooley hat but it doesn't seem to get any tar deposits on it that could drip off.

 

Yes, of course an efficient double skin could reduce tar condensation in the chimney, but it has to go somewhere, and I would have thought that the coolie hat would condense even more. But are we talking about coal or wood? Coal should produce very little tar, but it's almost impossible to avoid with wood.

 

(Ducks to avoid incoming smokeless wood polemic from NB Alnwick.)

[Timleech]

Yes, of course an efficient double skin could reduce tar condensation in the chimney, but it has to go somewhere, and I would have thought that the coolie hat would condense even more. But are we talking about coal or wood? Coal should produce very little tar, but it's almost impossible to avoid with wood.

 

(Ducks to avoid incoming smokeless wood polemic from NB Alnwick.)

 

A lot of people on boats seem to burn 'freshly harvested' wood & that will certainly give lots of tar (as well as not much heat!), especially if burnt slowly.

 

Wood is supposed to be seasoned for two years before burning, I don't know anyone who manages that though . After that time, it should be more or less smokeless.

 

Tim

[ditchcrawler]

In case anyone is interested…..

 

For the past number of winters, we have had an 18 inch double skin chimney stack with a Cooley hat fitted. We have also been plagued by ‘brown fluids’ dripping off the Cooley had and staining the roof – it’s almost impossible to remove the staining.

 

About 6 weeks or so ago, the Cooley hat got knocked off the roof and lost into the depths of the Grand Union. Since loosing the hat, we have had no more problems with the ‘brown fluids’. It would appear that the Cooley hat has been doing more harm than good and we will not be replacing it.

Will cooley hats still be allowed when the new fire regulations come in, I don't think you are allowed to have them on a house because they restrict the flue

[blackrose]

Will cooley hats still be allowed when the new fire regulations come in, I don't think you are allowed to have them on a house because they restrict the flue

 

I'm not sure what the new fire regs are or whether they apply to boats?

 

A coolie hat or Chinaman's hat (not sure how PC these terms are? ) shouldn't restrict the flue if the clearance between the flue and the hat is sufficient. Along with large modified baked bean cans these are the most basic type of cowl. There are plenty of other designs around on boats and buildings which prevent rain and downdraughts. I have a Vedetta cowl.

 

The fitting of most solid fuel stoves on boats seldom conform to the manufacturer's recommendations simply because you can't fit a flue/chimney combination which is long enough. That's just the way it is. Morso specify at least 4m for my stove for example, and for a squirrel I think its 3.5m. Given the fact that we can't even comply with the manufacturers installation recommendations, any new fire regs are probably fairly meaningless.

Edited November 16, 2009 by blackrose

[FadeToScarlet]

I've been known to chuck hot coals in the cut. Wasteful but very satisfying.

 

Ah, so it's not just me then.

 

It's just a very satisfying hiss!

 

 

It seems like any tar condenses on the underside of the hat, and then runs down the slope to the edge and drips. You really need a mirror-image cone, on the underneath, so that any tar that condenses will run towards the centre of the flue and drip back in- but then you'd look like you were being visited by the aliens from Batteries Not Included!

[alan_fincher]

I've been known to chuck hot coals in the cut. Wasteful but very satisfying.

So have we when the glass in the front of the stove went "bang", and we became concerned for our personal safety.

 

Not easy to eject a whole fire in panic situations, and we were glad afterwards that we had carpet tiles where you can replace individual squares, without scrapping off the whole lot.

 

I'm uncomfortable with chucking ash in, (although not to say we haven't done it). It just seems to me that in total enough volume gets produced that if everybody did it, the bottom would be at least marginally closer to the top at the most popular mooring locations.

[Jim and Paula]

Several people here have come to the same conclusion - when the stove is lit. But of course if there a heavy rainstorm when the fire is out, it will just run down your chimney and start to rust your stove. Make sure you have some sort of cover on when not using the stove.

 

Mac

Forgot to mention, we are live aboards and the fire never goes out during the winter months. We will cap off the chimney when the stove is not in use next spring.

 

We do burn quite a lot of wood and it can be a bit ‘fresh’.

[Keeping Up]

Not easy to eject a whole fire in panic situations.

My local pub has two open woodburning fires, which rely on the assistance of a fan in the flue. One evening they had a power cut, so the fans stopped working and the now-dark pub started to fill with smoke. The landlord panicked and told the bar staff to take the logs outside. So then we had the staff, in a packed and totally dark pub, transferring burning logs into a bucket and trying to carry them through the crowd of customers and outside to the garden. Thank goodness the lights came back on before anybody got injured.

[Mac of Cygnet]

My local pub has two open woodburning fires, which rely on the assistance of a fan in the flue.

 

Whoever thought up that arrangement should have their head examined. Asking for trouble in several ways. If a chimney can't be modified to draw naturally then it shouldn't be used for burning anything.

[blackrose]

Whoever thought up that arrangement should have their head examined. Asking for trouble in several ways. If a chimney can't be modified to draw naturally then it shouldn't be used for burning anything.

 

Chimney extractor fans are fairly common and lots of pubs with open fires use the same system.

[Mac of Cygnet]

Chimney extractor fans are fairly common and lots of pubs with open fires use the same system.

 

They can't have as many power cuts as we get round here, then, if the place fills up with smoke as soon as they stop.