You would not immediately expect it in these summer temperatures, but chimney sweeps are busy. Because gas prices have been going through the roof for months, many people are looking for alternatives. In addition to solar panels, the wood stove is also very popular. And anyone who burns wood must have the chimney swept at least once a year.
Maarten van der Wulp has been a chimney sweep at the company De Schone Vegers from Liessel for three years and has filled his agenda well until the end of this year. On this summer day he comes to a customer’s chimney in Deurne to sweep.
“A little bit of stoking the fire from the past.”
You can forget the classic image many people will have of a chimney sweep on the roof. Nowadays it all goes up from the living room with a hose.
The much-discussed energy transition is in full swing, the chimney sweep sees every day: “In the search for alternatives to gas, some people revert to more primitive means such as burning wood. A bit of lighting the fire from the past.”
“The number of new customers has increased by 30 percent.”
Maarten can see from the influx of new customers that more and more wood is being burned. In addition, existing customers have started to burn more wood, so he goes there twice instead of once a year to sweep the chimney. “Purely due to gas prices, the number of new customers has increased by 30 percent,” says Maarten.
Buying a wood-burning stove has another problem, Maarten explains. Wood is expensive and scarce, prices have almost doubled last year. According to him, the fact that people choose a wood-burning stove is mainly an emotional experience.
“If you want to have a merry Christmas, that’s fine.”
Maarten points out that it is not smart to choose an old-fashioned fireplace as an alternative to the central heating boiler: “If you want to have a cozy Christmas, that’s fine, but a fireplace only has 15 percent heat efficiency. Then you have to burn so much wood, so that’s not a good idea. It’s better to buy a modern stove with more efficiency.”
If you want to buy a wood stove next winter to get rid of gas, you can miss out on getting married. Due to the enormous demand and a shortage of raw materials, the wood-burning stoves are often not immediately available. Chances are it won’t work this year.