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Fake chimney pots, why?

(40 Posts)
tanith Wed 17-Sept-25 16:01:10

My daughter and went for a walk last evening past some new houses being built and had to laugh as a lot of these new houses had chimneys on the roof, what on earth is the point? Just fake mocked up chimneys the bigger houses had two. Is it just me?

Lathyrus3 Wed 17-Sept-25 16:21:01

I think it’s a bit silly but I guess it’s a ‘look”. like mock Tudor.

SueDonim Wed 17-Sept-25 16:23:39

There’s a new estate we know of whether the houses have chimney pots, but that’s because they have fireplaces. They’re built in the local vernacular style and it all fits seamlessly into the surrounding landscape. It’s a shame not all developments are as thoughtful as that.

Lathyrus3 Wed 17-Sept-25 16:27:06

Hmm. Should we be building new houses with fireplaces, I wonder?

You know, pollution, climate change.

M0nica Wed 17-Sept-25 16:39:54

People will put them in, even if their stove is an electric one. It is a harmless tweak on a traditionally designed new house, why get so bothered by them?

Babs03 Wed 17-Sept-25 16:43:46

Haven’t noticed this but tbh is probably more aesthetically pleasing than fake grass.

SueDonim Wed 17-Sept-25 16:50:04

Lathyrus3

Hmm. Should we be building new houses with fireplaces, I wonder?

You know, pollution, climate change.

No gas and regular power outages in a rural area where you can be cut off by snow or floods means people rely on solid fuel in many parts of Scotland, Lathyrus. They need something reliable.

Ilovedogs22 Wed 17-Sept-25 17:00:00

Well I never, fake chimney pots!
I suppose it fits- in perfectly with the superficiality of today.
Fake lips, fake hair, fake breasts, fake teeth & now fake chimney pots.! Father Christmas will be confused?
Ps, His beards probably fake too! 😕

escaped Wed 17-Sept-25 17:02:28

Father Christmas will be confused?
😂
Oh no!

PamelaJ1 Wed 17-Sept-25 17:15:18

We lived in one, I suppose the planners set the rules.
It turned out to be a pain in the neck when something took root and discovered it was a perfect place to grow into something rather large.
After an expensive removal of said tree the builder made sure nothing rise would ever grow there again!

tanith Wed 17-Sept-25 17:20:23

I'm not bothered by them particularly just thought it was really silly they definately don't have internal fireplaces.

JamesandJon33 Wed 17-Sept-25 17:41:05

We looked at a new build some time ago, and were asked if we wanted a chimney. The sale person said they made the house look more traditional and they were ‘aesthetically pleasing’. !!!

Allira Wed 17-Sept-25 17:47:06

Ilovedogs22

Well I never, fake chimney pots!
I suppose it fits- in perfectly with the superficiality of today.
Fake lips, fake hair, fake breasts, fake teeth & now fake chimney pots.! Father Christmas will be confused?
Ps, His beards probably fake too! 😕

😁

Are you sure the chimney pots are fake, tanith?
Perhaps it's for an alternative form of heating.

In fact, I hadn't noticed that houses are built without chimney pots now. Must look up more often!

JamesandJon33 Wed 17-Sept-25 17:49:19

No they are not alternative form of heating….definitely fake. We were shown one. Extra to have it on your house though.

Skydancer Wed 17-Sept-25 17:53:35

Stupid isn’t it. Near us are some mock Georgian houses. They are in a lovely spot, somewhere I’d like to live but I hate anything fake. They are so obviously NOT Georgian.

Lathyrus3 Wed 17-Sept-25 19:30:08

SueDonim

Lathyrus3

Hmm. Should we be building new houses with fireplaces, I wonder?

You know, pollution, climate change.

No gas and regular power outages in a rural area where you can be cut off by snow or floods means people rely on solid fuel in many parts of Scotland, Lathyrus. They need something reliable.

The electric used to go down quite often in Bedfordshire too🙄😬

I won’t pretend I didn’t enjoy the log fire when I visited family outside Inverness😊

M0nica Wed 17-Sept-25 19:39:41

We lived in a big village near Oxford, but we had a fortnight without gas a few years ago and an uncetain supply for a whole winter.

To have heated our house using electric heaters would have been incredibly expensive. We did, one winter have to heat the kitchen with an electric oil filled radiator. our electricity bill went up by over £200, to do the whole house didn't bear thnking of. so we were very glad indeed of our wood burning stove.

A simple solution would be for the stove makes to develop a particulate filter that removes the particulates before they leave the stove. They did that for coal fired power stations in their later years, so it should not be beyond the power of science to devlop one for a wood burning stove.

Allira Wed 17-Sept-25 19:45:40

A simple solution would be for the stove makes to develop a particulate filter that removes the particulates before they leave the stove. They did that for coal fired power stations in their later years, so it should not be beyond the power of science to devlop one for a wood burning stove.
Yes, then shut them down.

M0nica Wed 17-Sept-25 20:02:58

Allira the problems caused by coal fired power stations extended beyond particulates to other chemicals and the scale of a 600megawatt power station to a wood burner is like a match to the sun.

I was on the local Liaison Committee of a coal fired power station for 20 years. They would regularly get complaints about dust and particulates on cars and garden furniture. Each time this happend the Environment Agency would go and collect the dust and analyse it. In 20 years it was never dust coming from the power station. Usually it was red Sahara sand, sometimes from other industrial processes in the area, but not from the power station.

Whiff Wed 17-Sept-25 21:43:40

The fire in my bungalow is electric which has a flue the back of it. My bungalow was build in 1972 so it probably had real fire. My chimney pot was broken but I had a new one build . I don't use the electric fire as I have radiators. But the bungalows across the road where build in 1990's they have pipes for the flues sticking out of there roofs . I much prefer my chimney pot. Plus I have fake grass which has padding under it to protect me when I fall.

SueDonim Wed 17-Sept-25 22:46:35

It seems there’s nothing new under the sun. A link to this article arrived in my Inbox this evening and apparently fake chimneys have been a thing since the 1600’s. 😂

www.essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk/2025/09/

Mt61 Thu 18-Sept-25 09:12:37

Our neighbour across, had a wood burner installed a few years ago.
Our houses don’t have chimneys, so they had to have a hideous metal chimney constructed, like what you would see on a takeaway shop.
I would much rather look at a fake chimney stack all day long.

karmalady Thu 18-Sept-25 09:20:03

Houses need provision for at least a flue and I am glad that many new house builders are doing that, even if the flue is enclosed in a chimney pot

The new builds here have chimneys and real provision for fires be it stoves or gas or electric. All the fittings are there and well done to those builders

Bazza Thu 18-Sept-25 14:36:27

There’s a relatively new build near us called Three Chimneys without a chimney in sight. Perhaps it’s a joke!

Grantanow Thu 18-Sept-25 14:51:02

Having a fireplace is a really good insurance against power cuts. I wouldn't want not to have one whatever Greenies say.