Chimney Sweeping

If your house is in a village or otherwise registered, yes, you are suppose to have your chimney swept yearly by a professional. A proper sweeping should also include a basic inspection and taking the creosote from the base of the chimney.

But it is a semi-market driven economy here, and you can hire your own chimney sweep. You do not have to use some person who shows up at your door. I say "semi-market" as there is a caveat: may be only one sweep business in your area so you may not really have much of an actual choice.

Also, always get an official tax receipt to prove you had it done, and the receipt proves you are working with a legitimate business.

I asked a Hungarian friend about this and he also confirmed that this is normal practice. He said I don't have to get it swept but I do have to pay the money! I know a sweep in Scotland and he comes with dust sheets, industrial hoover etc. and does not leave a mess. The chimney I had swept has openings in the kitchen and the living room. I was expecting the sweep to just work from the kitchen side but he also removed the cap at the living room side so now I have a lot of official documents with spots of soot on them.

fidobsa wrote:

I asked a Hungarian friend about this and he also confirmed that this is normal practice. He said I don't have to get it swept but I do have to pay the money! I know a sweep in Scotland and he comes with dust sheets, industrial hoover etc. and does not leave a mess. The chimney I had swept has openings in the kitchen and the living room. I was expecting the sweep to just work from the kitchen side but he also removed the cap at the living room side so now I have a lot of official documents with spots of soot on them.

Just to say that in some countries (i.e. Austria), you need to have your chimney swept/inspected to make sure it's not a fire risk. If you do not have it done, your house insurance may not be valid. Obviously if you do not use it, then you don't need it swept but if you do use it (in Austria), it needs to be inspected and the papers submitted to the local government to say the chimney is "in operation". Might be the same in Hungary.

It's practically a yearly tax.
They call it inspection or checkup, and they are quite happy if you just pay, you don't have to let them in or anything if you don't want to.

It's cheaper to just pay it than to bother about it.

szocske wrote:

It's practically a yearly tax.

I have been using wood heat as a primary heat source off and on for over 20 years, starting in the US. And I can not disagree more with your comment. Having your chimney yearly checked and swept is very important. 

szocske wrote:

They call it inspection or checkup

First of all there is a good reason for a chimney sweeping regulation. Many people here do not properly dry wood. They have it delivered and cut in the fall before use. The wood moisture content is too high and large creosote deposits start to accumulate in the chimney. Not only is this potential for chimney fires, but it increases the pollutants coming out of the chimney. If you do not sweep your chimney yearly you are polluting your local environment far more than necessary: yourself and your neighbors.

szocske wrote:

they are quite happy if you just pay, you don't have to let them in or anything if you don't want to.

What business wouldn't? Free money. Even the baker would be quite happy also if you came in, threw 1,000 HUF on his counter and left without any bread.

Serious, why on earth would anyone pay for a service or product and not take the service? And claiming you had an inspection and you didn't is fraud. You should not advocating fraud. Sorry, the excuse "everyone else does it" is bunk.

There are many very competent sweeps here. And I have had no problems if I explain to anyone I hire what are my expected standards before any work starts. If they don't like my standards, then I move on to another worker. I have not had problems with any person I eventually hired to do a task. And I am not just referring to Hungary. I have done this the same way in every state and country where I have lived.

szocske wrote:

It's cheaper to just pay it than to bother about it.

For whom? You and your neighbors paying more for respiratory health problems due to bad air? For replacing the chimney if a chimney fire occurs? If the flue is cracked and leaks CO into the room and kills you? Unless you a licensed and trained chimney expert it is unlikely you would even know what to look for that would indicate a potential problem.

Quite frankly, it is very inexpensive insurance. Here, it is simply required that a licensed professional do it, again for good reasons.

szocske wrote:

....Many people here do not properly dry wood. They have it delivered and cut in the fall before use. The wood moisture content is too high and large creosote deposits start to accumulate in the chimney. Not only is this potential for chimney fires,...

Absolutely right. The quality of the wood for burning in Hungary is terrible. It's far too damp (should be less than 20%). Wood really needs at least two years outside in a windy spot before burning, so it can be air dried. Otherwise all the energy in the wood is spent evaporating the water trapped inside. It's very inefficient and you might only get back a fraction of the potential heat value.

I think this sector is very badly regulated in Hungary judging by the complaints we've heard. If I ever get around to buying a wood burner in Hungary, I shall get myself a meter to test any wood before I buy it. Fortunately, meters are cheap, 25 EUR, so well worth it.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Wood really needs at least two years outside in a windy spot before burning

Correct. And two years is ideal.

Black locust (fehér akác in Hungarian) properly split and stacked can be ready in ideal cases in just a year.

Buy in the fall and stack and let it sit at least a year, using all the next years summer's heat to get the water out and season the wood. Test with hydrometer to make sure it is ready the next fall (an excellent purchase, as you mentioned, that more than pays for itself the first year). If not, simply let it go another year.

For anyone who is interested, an excellent source of wood fuel and burning information is available here: http://www.woodheat.org/preparing-fuel-supply.html

If you actually use your chimneys, I suggest you get them checked independently from the mandatory guy, I'm sure I will.
We have 2 chimneys we don't use yet, and a modern heat exchanging gas exhaust with a fake chimney to cover it. Our mandatory chimney sweep guy can't tell them apart.
Each year he comes asking for the money, we pay, he leaves.
If he ever asked I'd let him check the unused chimneys, but letting him close to the live gas system is probably a bad idea :-)