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Fowl, Howl.... Cowl ?

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  • 07-12-2009 10:10pm
    #1
    mad DIY
    Closed Accounts Posts: 319 ✭✭


    I have a newly installed metal flue in a chimney, and its making a horrendously loud noise in the wind. Like a big fog horn, only with a beating pulse like a helicopter. I gather putting a special cowl on it might solve the problem, and I would be grateful for any suggestions or advise.

    There will be a solid fuel stove going in the fireplace, so the cowl needs to be suitable for that, and also the solution would need to keep birds and rain out, and to reasonably facilitate regular cleaning of the flue. I don't know if the problem is simply caused by a down draught, or if its a different problem, so, while I'm hoping an anti down draught cowl will do the job, I'm just not sure. I'm reluctant to go for a directional cowl that rotates in the wind in case it freezes into the wind in cold weather :eek:, which is when I'd most likely be using the stove.
    Has anyone used this static Windkat cowl, like these http://www.fluesystems.com/cowls/info/windkat.htm ? Would it cure the howling ?
    Or could the Chinese hat cowl that is currently on the chimney pot be what's causing the problem ?

    Alternatively, when the stove is installed, I think that will probably stop the sound coming out of the fireplace, but would the installation of the stove also stop the noise being generated in the flue ? As it can be heard through the walls in the upstairs bedrooms, and also presumably in the adjoining neighbours bedrooms.

    The other problem I have is with bird noise coming down the flues and out of the open fireplaces from birds congregating atop the chimney stack. Is there a cowl that will scare the birds off from landing on the top of stack ? I would be thinking about this for a flue other than one the stove will be using, maybe one of the ones not being used at all.
    Or is there any other ingeniuous, and most importantly quiet, solution that would be appropriate for an 8 pot chimney stack shared with a neighbour, and which doesn't involve spikes or look idiotic ? The rotating scary eyes on a pole bird scarer thing would probably work, but I'd be afraid people in the area would think I was some sort of devil worshipper if that was stuck on top of the chimney !


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