Colt Top All Purpose Chimney Cowl

My chimney doesn't have an extended flue and so I was looking for a cowl that grips the inside of the flue when fitting. The Colt Top does just this and it was easy to fit. It is good build quality for the price and I am very happy with the result. I wanted a cowl that also prevented rain and birds for entering the chimney, which the Colt Top does and it looks good too.

We have a problem chimney. To begin with it's quite short as we live in a bungalow. In addition to this it doesn’t exit at the ridge but partway up the back of the roof which faces south-west. The fire smoked very badly when we bought the house 20 years ago. I fitted a longer chimney pot which raised the exit above the ridge line and this improved the situation but for the last 15 years we have had to carefully check the wind direction and strength before lighting a fire. There is never a problem with still weather or with cold northerly or easterly winds – it’s the mild south-westerly wind that always causes the problems.I tried to research the effectiveness of chimney cowls compared to spinners but drew a blank and decided to take a chance on this cowl (it’s half the price).It arrived promptly and took all of 10 minutes to fit (I have a low roof that’s safe to walk on). We had little wind for a week but the dreaded gusting south-westerly wind returned last night. I only lit a single fire lighter to begin with as I was still a bit sceptical but within 5 minutes I was adding coal and logs. The fire burnt all evening without a hint of smoke – excellent! I’m very impressed.This cowl comes with a manufacturer guarantee of effectiveness and so you can’t go wrong (apart from, perhaps, the return postage).One reviewer says that it was returned as it looked too big. If a modern hi-gain TV aerial were to be unpacked and assembled it a living room it too would look very big but by the time it’s on the roof it just looks like all the others.

Feels well built, it was very easy to fit, took about 5mins once on the roof. Time will tell how it works but the main reason being to stop the crows building in the chimney.

Not happy. Fire still smoking, no extra draw on the chimney. Waste of money getting it installed. Can't believe it. Expected way better.

Perfect fit. Easy to fit if you are good up a ladder or have scaffolding in place.

I bought this based on the good reviews and I guess it would do a excellent job, but when I received it I was taken aback by the size of it.The overall diameter is around 430mm, which on top of my chimney would look quite large and certainly not fit in with the other smaller chimney cowls next to it. It also is more of a red terracotta than the slightly orange terracotta that the chimney pots are made of.So it will have to go back and I will now choose a smaller looking one.

My Chimney Sweep dislodged the existing Cowl I proved 22 years ago so ordered an exact replacement which appeared with Amazon amazing delivery 2 days later. I suffer from Down Draughts and this Cowl solves that problem.My Chimney Sweep likes a secure Band to hold the Cowl in place which the advert hinted this had but on closer examination was not provided. A phone call to Cowl and a fellow there said 3 million had been sold without the Band but he did accept that in exposed locations (like mine) it was preferable so I purchased a Band Kit from them for £10 plus £2 VAT.We had a tremendous wind which shut off the power to local areas so my Chimney Sweep appeared as his chimney sweeping house appointment had no power - he placed the new Cowl with the Band on my chimney and all is now well.

If you live in a windy area this will stop the draft. I used it with a log burner and it worked nicely.