Capping the chimney at the top is the best solution. The stack will take
some time to dry out and then the smell will cease. I had a similar problem
with an open fire that has only occasional use. As the chimney is live it
can suffer from weather penetration and an unpleasant sooty smell can fill
the living room. I overcame this by fitting a removable register plate to
the fireplace. In this plate there is a quiet computer fan to draw a modicum
of warm dry air from the room to ventilate the flue and prevent the smell
descending. The fan I chose has a nominal 12V supply requirement. By
experimentation I found that a 3V supply was enough to provide a small flow
of air up the chimney in complete silence. Weird but very effective :-)

Richard.




"Saeed" wrote in message
...
The chimney breast in the bedroom has been bricked up where there used to
a gas fire, and white ventilation grill thingy fitted.

The trouble is on windy days there is a distinct chimney soot smell in the
room around the chimney breast. I have thought of using masking tape over
the ventilator but the this would defeat the true purpose of having one.

Is there anything I can do about this?


Kind regards,

Saeed

sr_ng 786