The Riga air quality action programme names Atgāzene among the neighbourhoods where, by number of buildings, individual heating prevails, even though heating networks are available in most of the area. So here we often need to talk not only about cleaning but also about what is allowed when you replace a boiler. Flue cleaning costs from €100, with the certificate and call-out included.
The heating network is close, but the boiler is your own
Atgāzene is a small neighbourhood between the railway, Torņakalns and Bieriņi. Most of the buildings are detached houses and low-rise buildings, with offices, shops and car repair shops among them. The fact that the heating network runs along the street does not affect your chimney: as long as the house has its own heating, the flue must be kept clean and checked just as in any private house.
Houses of this type often have a gas boiler with a liner in an old brick chimney, a wood or pellet boiler in the basement and a masonry stove or fireplace on the living floor. Boiler flues must be cleaned twice a season, a gas flue once a year or once every two years depending on whether it has a liner. More: chimney sweep for a house.
Riga air quality action programme 2026–2030, pp. 58–59: the prevalence of individual heating is assessed by number of buildings; percentages are not published in the text. Source: mvd.riga.lv, checked 04.11.2026.
Replacing a boiler: what the Riga rules require
Riga binding regulations on the choice of heat supply type divide the city into three zones. According to the municipal zoning map, Atgāzene falls in a strip marked as zone II; we read this from the map ourselves, so check your address in the GeoRiga layer. In zone II new solid fuel appliances, including wood and pellet boilers, may not be installed if you change the type of heating.
An existing boiler may still be replaced with a new ecodesign boiler of up to 50 kW if the fuel stays the same. If you change the type of heating, you first need the approval of the municipal Heat Supply Commission, and its decision is valid for five years. In any case the new boiler must be registered with the Riga Energy Agency, and before the new boiler is used you need a certificate on whether it may be connected to the existing flue.
Riga binding regulations No. RD-24-260-sn on heat supply, as amended (zones, sub-point 28.1, commission approval, registration); Cabinet Regulation No. 238, point 79. Sources: likumi.lv/ta/id/350039 and likumi.lv/ta/id/281646, checked 04.11.2026.
What is checked when a new boiler is connected to a flue
- Channel size The flue cross-section is compared with the boiler manufacturer's requirements. A channel that is too wide gives a new boiler weak draught and condensation.
- Condition inside The channel is cleaned and, if not everything can be seen from the cleaning door and the roof, it is inspected with a camera.
- Liner or new flue If needed, the solution is chimney lining or a separate metal flue. We name the price after the inspection.
- Certificate A certificate is drawn up on whether the appliance may be connected. Gaso's simplified procedure for replacing gas appliances also requires it.
Car repair shops and workshops
In Atgāzene there are commercial premises and car repair shops by the railway. A business needs a certificate after every cleaning, and business premises are never a single-dwelling property where the owner could clean the flue themselves. If a workshop has a liquid fuel heater, note that in Riga new liquid fuel appliances, including diesel ones, may no longer be installed in any zone. The flue of an existing appliance is cleaned and checked under the same regulations. For businesses: chimney sweep for businesses.
Fuel and planned municipal support
In Riga burning waste is banned in all zones, including in a stove or boiler. Offcuts of painted boards, plastic and damp wood leave tar in the flue, which ignites much more easily than dry soot. If the channel walls are shiny and black after cleaning, that is tar, and it is cleaned with a different method: chimney tar removal.
In the air quality programme the municipality plans a pilot project that would pay for the servicing of heating appliances in zones I and II, first for low-income households. As of 04.11.2026 such support has not yet been announced and the amounts are not known, so you cannot apply for it yet.
Access and price
We reach Atgāzene along Vienības gatve. In the request, write where a car can be parked by the house, whether there is a dog in the yard and whether the roof can only be reached from the neighbour's side. Cleaning one flue costs from €100, usually €100–130, with the certificate and call-out. The condition report, chimney lining and camera inspection are priced for your situation. All prices: prices.
Neighbouring areas: Torņakalns, Bieriņi, Ziepniekkalns and Šampēteris. All of Riga: chimney sweep in Riga.
Sources
- Detached and low-rise housing with gardens checked 4 November 2026
- Individual heating prevails in Atgāzene, although heating networks are available in most of the area (pp. 58–59) checked 4 November 2026
- Zones, liquid fuel ban in all zones, replacement exception up to 50 kW, commission approval, registration checked 4 November 2026
- Zoning map (our reading: Atgāzene in the zone II strip) checked 4 November 2026
- Gaso's simplified replacement procedure requires a certificate on the flue and ventilation ducts checked 4 November 2026
- Deadlines (68, 70, 71), certificate (72), replacement certificate (79) checked 4 November 2026
- Planned pilot project to pay for heating appliance servicing in zones I and II (measure 3.2.a), not announced checked 4 November 2026