On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:42:52 +0000, Anna Kettle wrote:

However being as two of our neighbours are voluntary firemen, the number
of fires started from solid fuel in bad stacks is an extremely large
part of their duties..

There are regular pictures of such cases in the Bury Free Press, but
every single one I have seen has been in a house with a thatched roof
which makes me extremely suspicious that the problem is not with the
flue but with sparks shooting out the top, in which case a chimney
with a liner could be worse than one without

Maybe but consider also that wood will start to smoulder at 300C, so a
fire fuelled by tar and soot in the chimney could conduct heat
through 9 inches of brick. Also once the mortar has failed the flue gases
can pass through the chimney as well as letting more air in. A 904
stainless steel liner will survive gas tight to above 1200C for a short
while and 900C indefinitely so with a properly sealed register and good
air control on a stove all that's likely to happen is a cleaner chimney.

AJH