Bought a chiminea

[bushcraftbob]

Bought a small chiminea from a garden centre at the weekend, just in the process of lighting a few small fires in it to "cure" the chiminea.

I must say though, even with a small fire what good heat they give off, and can put my trangia kettle on top of it to make a brew!

anyone else got one?

 

[Shewie]

Yeah we picked one up a couple of years ago in a winter sale. It went a bit manky after about six months so I set to with wire brush and then gave it three coats of stove paint.

They great for bbq nights in the garden and just chilling out with a beer with the mrs.

We burn quite a bit of garden stuff in ours too, the spring pruning waste goes through it once I've dried it out, Then the pot ash goes on the veggie and fruit patches

 

[tobes01]

Had one sat on the patio for a couple of years after two disastrous evenings where it smoked us out. We had friends over on Saturday and since I've no seasoned firewood left, I tried using kiln-dried stuff, which was BRILLIANT! No smoke at all. I hate the thought of paying that sort of money for fuel wood, but it was well worth it.

For next season I'll stove dry my own wood purely for the chiminea.

 

[dorkingbushcraft]

do not block the top for too long!

 

[andy r]

Builders skips M8...ideal for chimenea wood

 

[Silverhill]

If you'd have asked me a few years ago, when the first started to make a regular appearance in peoples gardens, I would've said "It's just a phase" or, "They'll never catch on". Then we were given one as a wedding present, needless to say our gas BBQ never gets used now. With a properly constructed and maintained fire (as all good woodcrafters and bushcrafters know how do do that bit) our 'cast iron' chimenea can cook a good quality butchers sausage in less than three minutes, which is just as well as the grill is bloomin' tiny!

 

[Walks with dogs]

Love mine. So do my neighbours, each time they cut anything vaguely combustible up they pop round to see if I need anything to burn. Winters night, outside, fire going, glass of something boozy, or a summers night, or spring, maybe autumn. Lovely.

 

[tobes01]

Btw, if it's one with a metal chimney: start it with a small fire first to dry it out. Made that mistake at the weekend, and half the paint on the chimney blistered off as the moisture under it boiled off.

 

[EdS]

try not to let it smoke much ie clean dry fuel.

Problem with these things is that as they have a chimney they fall foul of The Clean Air Act, where as pits with no chimney do not.

If you are in a smoke control area and if, and I say if, someone does complain to the council they have a statutory duty to investigate and require you desist. The officer that lands the job has no choice in it, even if they wanted to turn a blind eye.

They don't tell people that at garden centres

 

[Chinkapin]

If you have a clay one it is a good idea to put some largish gravel in the bottom and bring it up to just about even with the bottom of the "door." It will draw better when lighting the fire and the gravel insulates the bottom from what can be some fairly intense heat.

Always, start with a small fire to warm up the chiminea. Bring it up to a higher heat slowly. Otherwise you run the risk of cracking it. I broke my first one doing too much heat too quickly. Never put a lot of wood in them.

I always put a trash bag over mine in the winter -its too heavy to move. Keeps it from soaking up water. If your chiminea has been in the rain and has soaked up a lot of water and you build too big a fire it will super heat the steam before it can dry out and you will have an exploding chiminea. I have took these precautions with mine and I have had it about 5 years, and it is as good as when I bought it. Some people will tell you that the clay ones are only good for about a year. Not true.

 

[brancho]

I have had flames a couple of feet out of the top of mine and its about five years old now. Mine is Cast iron though.

Can toast a slice of bread slapped on the outside after about ten seconds a side.

 

[trail2]

You have to be joking,right? Someone will tell you to put out you your back garden BBQ.
Man when I was a kid(albeit long time ago ) Spring and Autumn were bonfire times. The whole village would be burning trimmings,leaves etc. How times have changed!!

 

[EdS]

You have to be joking,right? Someone will tell you to put out you your back garden BBQ.
Man when I was a kid(albeit long time ago ) Spring and Autumn were bonfire times. The whole village would be burning trimmings,leaves etc. How times have changed!!

BBQ are ok as - the problem is the chimney. The Clean Air ACt was written to stop a very really (leathal) problem of smoke from domestic fires (read sulphurous smoke). There are no laws about bonfires (except local byelaws). The only laws that may effect bonfires burning clean dry "wood" are: EPA s79 Stat Nuisance if it the smoke is causing a regular problem. THere is a a whole host of stuff if you are burning trade waste, plastics, tyre or wate ingeneral (excepting gaden cuttings as on a "traditional bonfire")


As I said just a heads up to give you some advice to prevent complaints.

 

[Asa Samuel]

We have one but it doesn't get much use, although with the weather getting better it might see some more fires soon

 

[trail2]

Ok got you. Thanks for the clarification. I had visions of a "smoke"less " country and bonfire bans.
I can remember the smell of coal smoke in the air. Especially in London where you couldn't touch a wall without getting a tad grimy.

 

[British Red]

Smokeless? I just burned a 10' tall pile of brushwood and stumps! took two days to go out

Plenty of chimneys and no "smoke free" rubbish in my area - wopuldn't live there if there was!

 

[trail2]

Can't imagine an evening walk without the smell of wood smoke in the air.
So a chimney is going to cause more pollution than an open bonfire? I understand the coal fire thing but isn't it all getting a bit silly.
Not looking to start a thread war ,just trying to understand how things have changed.
Its almost as though it's a differant country to the one I grew up in.

 

[woof]

Trail 2, your right.

We've had one for a couple of years, and enjoy ours, its a clay one, but we cover it up, and start with a small fire. I have filled the bottom with sand as wood burns better on a bed of something, we enjoy it, and cook on it, but have been looking at the converted gas bottle stoves.

Rob