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Chimney Wind Noise Driving Us NUTS -Help!

  • 24-11-2008 01:59PM
    #1
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭


    Hello
    Our chimney works fine but when the wind gets up, which is often here in Galway, it makes an awful loud noise.
    Like blowing across the top of a beer bottle.
    It seems to get amplified in the chimney.
    like i said the chimney works fine- there is no down draught.
    Id rather not get one of those dampners which you pull up and down to seal off the chimney.
    They cost a packet (almost 400 euro) and we use the fire quite a lot.
    Where can i find a cowel yoke which reduces noise?
    Any of the suppliers/hardware stores i ask they say "We have cowels but there not designed for noise"
    Any help/advice appreciated...
    Thanks:(


Comments

  • #2
    RKQ
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,292 ✭✭✭RKQ


    Maybe the answers in the question!

    If it sounds like blowing over a beer bottle... maybe a cowl that turns away from the wind will prevent air blowing over the chimney - preventing the noise.:)


  • #3
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    If it sounds like blowing over a beer bottle... maybe a cowl that turns away from the wind will prevent air blowing over the chimney - preventing the noise.:)[/quote]

    But the wind changes...i mean there just doesn't seem to be anything on the market to deal with this problem.
    ive been phoning around for weeks.
    I could write a thesis and/or bore the arse of you down the pub on the subject of wind noise & chimney cowls.


  • #4
    RKQ
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,292 ✭✭✭RKQ


    RKQ wrote: »
    maybe a cowl that turns away from the wind will prevent air blowing over the chimney - preventing the noise.:)

    I was refering to a cowl with a moving fin, that moves when the wind blows. It always has its back to the wind, so to speak. I have seen these in operation so they must be commonly available.
    Good luck.


  • #5
    ART6
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,632 ✭✭✭ART6


    RKQ wrote: »
    I was refering to a cowl with a moving fin, that moves when the wind blows. It always has its back to the wind, so to speak. I have seen these in operation so they must be commonly available.
    Good luck.

    They are readily available, from any builder's providers, but they are not great in strong and variable winds (like on a chinmey that's close to trees or other buildings. I had one on my house for a while, but it kept spinning round as the wind changed, and frequently spun into the wind momentarily, causing interesting smoke screens inside the room. Personally I would try the stainless steel fixed type with louvres on each of the square sides. These divert the wind upwards away from the top of the chimney. They are quite cheap and easy to fix, and again any builders providers should have them.


  • #6
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    ART6 wrote: »
    They are readily available, from any builder's providers, but they are not great in strong and variable winds (like on a chinmey that's close to trees or other buildings. I had one on my house for a while, but it kept spinning round as the wind changed, and frequently spun into the wind momentarily, causing interesting smoke screens inside the room. Personally I would try the stainless steel fixed type with louvres on each of the square sides. These divert the wind upwards away from the top of the chimney. They are quite cheap and easy to fix, and again any builders providers should have them.

    Thanks Art, But "any buliders providers" just aint so!
    ive called everyone in Galway County!
    Whats that square one you mentioned?
    Like attached image?
    You seem to have experience in this carry on.


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  • #7
    ART6
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,632 ✭✭✭ART6


    Cookiepus wrote: »
    Thanks Art, But "any buliders providers" just aint so!
    ive called everyone in Galway County!
    Whats that square one you mentioned?
    Like attached image?
    You seem to have experience in this carry on.

    That's one of many. There are also round ones with a similar design but with horizontal louvres. The main point is to break up the wind as it passes over the crown of the chimney pot. Think of it like your analogy of blowing over the top of a beer bottle. There is only one way of pursing your lips that will create the sound, and if anything disrupts the blow then there is no sound:)

    I'm surprised that no-one in Galway knew what you wanted. I live in Waterford where at least two could supply the things.


  • #8
    Avns1s
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,425 ✭✭✭Avns1s


    Slightly different answer to what you're looking for I expect but when I had exactly the same problem, I installed a stove so as to be able to control the airflow (and noise) up the chimney.

    It certainly has been a success, great heat, no noise and no draughts!


  • #9
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    Stove? No Thanks.
    Looks like im gonna hafta put in one of those dampner things with the cable down the flue.
    Sledge hammer to crack a nut.


  • #10
    Eurorunner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,393 ✭✭✭Eurorunner


    Cookiepus wrote: »
    Stove? No Thanks.
    Just curious but whats your objection?
    Aesthetics?
    Cost?
    Hassle?

    Installing the chimney closure will cost as much as the smallest stoves on the market...


  • #11
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    Jeeeez Eurorunner...
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    We like our sitting room as is, Why would i tear it apart - spend hundreds of euro i don't have.
    Our fire is fine.
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!

    Sorry...this is never ending...i going postal....drink the kool aid...mmmrrhhg

    And relax....


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  • #12
    Avns1s
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,425 ✭✭✭Avns1s


    Cookiepus wrote: »
    Jeeeez Eurorunner...
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    We like our sitting room as is, Why would i tear it apart - spend hundreds of euro i don't have.
    Our fire is fine.
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!

    Sorry...this is never ending...i going postal....drink the kool aid...mmmrrhhg

    And relax....


    I definitely sense hostility. :rolleyes: Not sure if you have any much appreciation for those who have given their opinions and taken their time to try and help you. Perhaps you should go postal!!


  • #13
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    I can understand why i sounded like that.
    Im just getting frustrated with the problem.
    Thanks For all your advice.
    No wind tonight at least!


  • #14
    Avns1s
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,425 ✭✭✭Avns1s


    I'm sure the nice folks in here will accept your apology and hence no harm done!

    Coming back to your problem, the only thing I can suggest to keep costs down is to get the chimney damper and do a self install, if its possible for you to do that, i.e. hany with the hands and all that. I seen this type of damper in some of the better builders providers for about €160, a lot cheaper than the crowd that come and fit.

    However, if you've a fire on, this damper sits above the chimney pot and in this scenario, I don't know if it'll cut down on the noise all that much.


  • #15
    Eurorunner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,393 ✭✭✭Eurorunner


    Cookiepus wrote: »
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    I just want a yoke for my chimney top to stop the noise!
    I hear ye. :D

    Well, your options have been laid out here;
    1. change cowl
    2. have chimney damper installed (or self install).
    3. have stove installed.

    Little bit more planning, outlay and effort required for option 3 - but you reap the benefits (and not just in terms of cutting out howling wind) in the long run.


  • #16
    cg1948
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭cg1948


    Art6: I have recently fitted a round 'Aerocowl' with horizontal louvres and I am afraid it may have made the noise worse. The manufacturer says it increases the laminar flow of air - but told me that it should lift the air flow enough above the chimney top to stop it. It has not. The noise only started after we had put a stainless steel liner in the chimney. I have just read a suggestion for a spiral fin (a bit like the spiral radio aerials you used to see on cars) which might break up the air flow. Any thoughts?


    ...and Merry Xmas to all


  • #17
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    After spending hundreds on 3 different cowls
    We gave up and had to get our chimney sealed at the top with an old slate.
    No fire use, but the wind noise is gone.
    No we have a problem with stuffy air and a fume type smell when we have the Central heating on.
    its never ending!


  • #18
    stackerman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,241 ✭✭✭stackerman


    Eurorunner wrote: »
    3. have stove installed.

    Sorry, couldnt help myself :p

    I had the same problem and installed a wood stove. Never looked back, best money I spent on the house. Looks great, fantastic heat and I can controll the air flow. Self installed and outside of the stove, cost very little, just a bit of work.


  • #19
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    I really get the feeling there are stove salesmen crusing these forums


  • #20
    stackerman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,241 ✭✭✭stackerman


    Cookiepus wrote: »
    I really get the feeling there are stove salesmen crusing these forums


    Not I said the fly :D

    Just a shame to sacrifice your fire


  • #21
    cnocbui
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,819 ✭✭✭✭cnocbui


    If it really sounds like it is the sort of sound you get blowing over the mouth of a bottle, I personally would consider putting a masonry disc on an angle grinder and then cutting the top lip of the pot into a castellated or saw tooth profile. Might work, might not. sometimes you just have to experiment.

    Alternatively, most anything that stops the wind blowing across the top of the lip and resonating should kill the sound. Something like this:


    http://www.brewercowls.co.uk/index.php?view=article&catid=5%3Acowls&id=9%3Aaerodyne-cowl&option=com_content&Itemid=18


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  • #22
    Antiquo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 290 ✭✭Antiquo


    cnocbui wrote: »
    .... cutting the top lip of the pot into a castellated or saw tooth profile. Might work, might not. sometimes you just have to experiment.

    .....

    Yeh and the next time the wind blows it might start whistling Oh Danny Boy... :)

    It'd be on Youtube all over the world :D


  • #23
    fergal o
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4 ✭fergal o


    get an anti downdraught cowl about 60 euro in your local hardware store (brooks),used one recently great job.


  • #24
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    wow - 2008 since i posted this problem
    still isnt fixed and winters here again
    put one of these on last year.-cost almost €200 -didint do a damn thing

    w ww .chimneycowlproducts.co.uk/acatalog/Your-All-Purpose-Multi-fuel-Anti-Downdraught-Chimney-Cowl-Strap-Fixing-427.html#SID=112

    always glad to hear any suggestions
    except please no "put a stove in"

    Thanks


  • #25
    ART6
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,632 ✭✭✭ART6


    Cookiepus wrote: »
    wow - 2008 since i posted this problem
    still isnt fixed and winters here again
    put one of these on last year.-cost almost €200 -didint do a damn thing

    w ww .chimneycowlproducts.co.uk/acatalog/Your-All-Purpose-Multi-fuel-Anti-Downdraught-Chimney-Cowl-Strap-Fixing-427.html#SID=112

    always glad to hear any suggestions
    except please no "put a stove in"

    Thanks

    I had a problem with down draughts for years, and I tried all sorts of devices, none of which worked. Then I bought a spinning one (see http://chimneycowls.ie/files/Spinner-Chimney-Cowl-Information-Sheet.PNG) from a local builders providers. It was expensive -- €90 at the time, and it works quite well. It spins in the wind and with the thermal lift from the fire, and it does stop the down draughts. The only problem with it is that I live in a rural area and can burn ordinary Polish coal, and every now and then I have to get up on the roof and clean the soot out of it or it stops spinning. Not a big deal for me as I live in a bungalow, and a few clouts with a stick gets it going again! If you live in town and use smokeless fuel or just logs then I wouldn't think that would be an issue.


  • #26
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    Thanks Art
    but i dont have a problem with down draughts
    the chimney works fine
    the problem is noise
    even if theres just a bit of wind


  • #27
    Webbs
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,645 ✭✭✭Webbs


    have you tried a black bin bag filled with something like bubble wrap and pushed up the chimney? Is easy to put up and take out when having a fire.
    Now this may or may not stop the noise but is a cheap easy thing to try


  • #28
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    Thanks Webbs but sounds a bit messy
    also -noise will kick off when we have the fire on


  • #29
    magicmoves
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 473 ✭✭magicmoves


    Have you tried using a chimney balloon?


  • #30
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    as above magic
    we need a sloution where the noise stops
    weather the fllue is blocked or open


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  • #31
    renofan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 866 ✭✭✭renofan


    I have this installed on my chimney and I find it quieter since I put it on. I got it in my hometown's hardwear store (Dohertys in Roscrea) but cannot remember the price. Around €100 iirc. It spins with the wind and stops it blowing across it.

    spinner2.jpg


  • #32
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    Really?
    Thanks so much for the tip
    i was told by one guy he put a spinning one on- made it worse
    he said "like a tractor on the roof"
    Did your chimney make a lot of noise?
    is the noise gone now?
    Thanks again


  • #33
    renofan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 866 ✭✭✭renofan


    I noticed a reduction in noise once I put it on, which, for me was an unexpected bonus as I had put it on to reduce down draught. TBH I don't notice much noise now except on very windy days when you can hear it spin bit I don't find it annoying as it's not that loud.

    I was advised to take it off every so often and turn it upside down, clean it and oil it. I've only done this once in a year.


  • #34
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    Thanks
    but was the noise bad before you put it on?


  • #35
    renofan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 866 ✭✭✭renofan


    It wasn't overly noisy but there were times when it got annoying. That's not there now.

    I'm not sure where you're based but here is a second hand one for €50 on donedeal.

    http://www.donedeal.ie/heating-for-sale/chimney-spinning-cowl/8002737


  • #36
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    im in Galway city
    thanks very much for your advice


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  • #37
    ART6
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,632 ✭✭✭ART6


    The cowl suggested by Renofan is the type I was referring to earlier, and is the one that I fitted some years ago. I have never heard any sound from it -- it spins in absolute silence, and in fact the only way I know that it is spinning is to go out and look! I don't know if it would stop chimney noise, but I would expect that it would because it would stop the wind blowing across the top of the chimney -- its base sits down inside the chimney pot. The only issue I have with it is that it does clog up with soot after a while, as I noted earlier, but that might not be a problem if you are using smokeless fuel or wood.


  • #38
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    Thanks Art
    Could you hear chimney noise before you put the cowel in?


  • #39
    ART6
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,632 ✭✭✭ART6


    There was some I guess, but not enough to bother me. It was never more than a faint thrumming noise in the background that I became used to. I didn't fit the cowl for that reason, as down draughts were my real problem.


  • #40
    Spires
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21 ✭Spires


    I have the same issue with my chimney a lot of noise and wind but never get puffs of smoke in living room when fire on. Spinner would not be suitable for me as I live in a two story house with high pitched roof so cleaning spinner would be major problem. Any other solutions?


  • #41
    Cookiepus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 121 ✭✭Cookiepus


    Hi
    no- i never found a soloution
    i have another fancy-panse cowel - sorry im not sure which kind.
    but like the others - it doesnt do anything for the noise.
    the workaraound i have is a yoke i have at the bottom of the chimney.
    its like a flap that i can close.
    this helps reduce the noise we can hear by about 50%
    but of course we cant use the fire when its closed.
    so no fire on windy days :(
    kinda riduculous


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  • #42
    ART6
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,632 ✭✭✭ART6


    Cookiepus wrote: »
    Hi
    no- i never found a soloution
    i have another fancy-panse cowel - sorry im not sure which kind.
    but like the others - it doesnt do anything for the noise.
    the workaraound i have is a yoke i have at the bottom of the chimney.
    its like a flap that i can close.
    this helps reduce the noise we can hear by about 50%
    but of course we cant use the fire when its closed.
    so no fire on windy days :(
    kinda riduculous

    My final solution to downdraft and noise problems from my chimney (the noise wasn't the main issue -- the downdraft was) was to fit a Windkat cowl. These are made in Germany, and are available from https://www.windkatcowls.co.uk/ . I bought one because as an engineer I had worked out what was causing the problems, and was thinking of making a cowl that would overcome them but then I found Wndkat, which was almost exactly of the design that I was considering making. They are frighteningly expensive but they make no sound (no moving parts), and made out of stainless steel they are very durable. Also dead easy to install.

    I bought mine as far as I recall sometime in 2015, and have never heard a sound or suffered a downdraft since. The only issue I had to deal with was that the cowl creates a constant updraft even in the most windy conditions, to the extent that if I had the oil central heating on it would pull all the heat out of the room. The solution to that was to modify a firescreen so that it completely sealed the hearth.

    In case of doubt, I have no involvement with Windkat or the supplier!


  • #43
    studdlymurphy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 832 ✭✭✭studdlymurphy


    Search t cowl chimney and have a look. This shape would help.


  • #44
    gmolloy85
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1 ✭gmolloy85


    Moved in to a new two storey house we built last year. Have an inset stove in the living room and it's as extremely noisy. Have tried 3 different cowls over last few days and none made any difference - (anti downdraft static, the spinner and the H cowl). I have also rand the manufacturer and they said there is no cowl designed just to stop wind noise!

    Has anybody tried the revolving dragon cowl or lobster cowl to stop wind noise and if so did they help?

    Don't care if they seize up over time as can access them from skylight.


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