Chimney sweep in Āgenskalns - tiled stoves in wooden houses

Why stoves are still lit in Āgenskalns

In 2022 the Riga Energy Agency stated that pre-war buildings without district heating are mostly in Āgenskalns and Grīziņkalns. The Riga air quality action programme 2026–2030 also names Āgenskalns among the neighbourhoods where individual heating is used and where wood smoke affects the air. Āgenskalna Priedes also has apartment buildings on district heating, so the work varies widely within one neighbourhood.

A wooden house with several flats often has one or two brick chimneys with several channels from different floors. So you need to know which channel leads from which stove: the technical condition inspection certificate shows the location of each flue in a drawing and notes for each flue whether it complies.

Tiled stove and wood-burning cooker: what to know

A tiled stove and a masonry stove store heat for a long time, so their flue must be cleaned once a year, by 1 November. If the flat has a small metal stove or a wood boiler that stores heat for less than three hours, it is cleaned once more between 1 November and 1 March. The stove's internal flue channels are swept through the cleaning doors and the soot is removed from the chimney base so that it does not stay in the bends.

In wooden houses the attic is especially important. The regulations require the chimney wall in the attic to be whitewashed or painted a light colour, because cracks and soot marks are easy to see on a white surface. Building code LBN 231-15 (point 54) requires wooden beams and boards to be at least 300 mm from the outer surface of the flue. More: tiled stove cleaning.

Replacing a stove in a flat: Riga rules

Riga binding regulations on the type of heat supply divide the city into three zones. In zone I no new solid fuel or gas appliances may be installed, and in zone II new solid fuel appliances are banned. According to the municipal zoning map, a large part of Āgenskalns is in zone I or II, but check the exact zone for your address in the GeoRiga layer or on the page of the municipal Heat Supply Commission.

One exception matters especially for flats in Āgenskalns: an old appliance may be replaced with a new ecodesign-compliant appliance of up to 50 kW if the type of fuel does not change. If the replacement is in a single flat in an apartment building, the application needs a certificate on the technical condition of the existing appliance, the flues and the natural ventilation ducts. We carry out such an inspection with a chimney sweep's condition report. All appliances must be registered with the Riga Energy Agency.

When a gas or pellet boiler replaces the stove

An old brick flue was built for warm wood smoke. Flue gases from a gas boiler or pellet boiler are cooler, the channel is too wide for them, and condensation forms on the walls and slowly eats away the joints. So after a boiler is connected, we recommend fitting a liner in the flue. Before that, the channel is checked to see whether it is straight and free of cracks, which can also be seen with a camera inspection.

When an appliance is replaced, a certificate must be drawn up on whether the new boiler may be connected to the flue. A gas boiler flue is cleaned once a year if it is brick, and once every two years if it has a liner. On choosing a liner: liner for a gas boiler.

Access to streets and roofs in Āgenskalns

Kalnciema iela, Slokas iela and Raņķa dambis get you to the neighbourhood quickly, but in the small streets between the wooden houses a parking space by the gate cannot be taken for granted. Write in the request whether a car can drive into the yard. The roofs of old wooden houses are often steep, so we need to know whether there is a ladder or a hatch onto the roof. If it is not safe to climb up, the flue is cleaned from below through the cleaning doors.

Prices and how to book

Cleaning one flue costs from €100, usually €100–130, with the certificate and call-out. The condition report and chimney lining are priced for your situation, because it depends on the length of the channel, access and materials. All prices: prices.

We also work in the neighbouring areas: Torņakalns, Zasulauks, Klīversala and Dzirciems. All of Riga: chimney sweep in Riga.