Chimney Draught-Proofing

I decided to start my flat resolutions with the chimney draught-proofing in the hopes of keeping the flat a little cosier for the remainder of the winter. Online forums suggest two methods for draught-proofing non-used chimneys:

1. Stuff it with crumpled up old newspaper.
2. Fill it with specially designed inflatable chimney balloons

The problem with method 1 is that, as you can see from the above photos of the two chimney flues, there is a vast amount of space to fill. Little balls of news paper would just pile up in the void and I'd never be able to achieve an air tight seal. (The silver tube is the new flue lining the ground floor flat owner put in so he could use his chimney without smoking out the other flats!)

In reading about method 2, there were numerous complaints about the product, stating that it deflated quickly, punctured easily, and was difficult to inflate in situ (as i can well imagine!).

So, my brilliant solution was to combine the best aspects of both of these ideas into one. I filled two large plastic garbage bags with crumpled newspaper for each chimney flue. After stuffing one bag into place, by holding on the ties of it I could hold it in place while inserting the second bag. Pulling both ties down created a nice neat plug.