old solid fuel Back Boiler leak?

[Seosamh]

Hi everyone, im not sure if this is the right forum but here goes,
So i have noticed after getting my chimneys cleaned out that the soot from my kitchen chimney is damp and it looks like my old solid fuel back boiler has a leak of some kind. the boiler was put in when the house was built in 1981 so you could say its well past its prime. in the past few years i have never felt it was safe. The house i live in is very small and compact so heating is not an issue, i have decided though not to light the fire where the boiler is leaking for fear of it exploding! Ill eventually take it all out next year at some point anyway, i just have a question if anyone can help? My kithen fireplace that contains the old back boiler is directly behind my living room fireplace, (they are back to back) which i still want to use for lighting a fire, is there a risk in lighting the living room fireplace when both fireplaces are back to back? would the heat living room fire heat the back boiler in the Kitchen fireplace from the other side ??

any help with this is much appreciated

regards,
Seosamh.

 

[king of pipes]

Has the back Boiler been Isolated and drained from its water supply tank? I would advise this is done so the system is empty if you're using a open fire, we should be encouraging you to upgrade there are many electric panel type heaters that can possibly work for you. Kop

 

[Ric2013]

Possibly the OP is in a rural area?. One of the few places solid fuel may still make sense.