Do You Need To Clean Your Chimney If You Don't Have A Fireplace?

Fire place safety

A large number of house fires start when creosote (a carbonaceous chemical) builds upwards on the interior of your chimney. Fifty-fifty so, some homeowners continue to disregard this significant risk, and don't take proper measures when it comes to chimney cleaning. When houses were heated by fireplaces merely, prior to the Industrial Revolution, chimney sweeps were in demand as nineteen^th century homeowners seemed to realize how important a clean chimney was to avoiding home fires.

In the 21^st century, avoiding a firm burn down is just as important. Even though well-nigh contemporary homeowners use their fireplaces for coziness or take remote controlled natural gas flames to fuel their fires, the bulk still employ woods to burn and are susceptible to creosote buildup in their dampers and flues. Homeowners are urged to have their chimneys inspected for creosote buildup and cleaned if necessary in the spring of each year.

Chimney fires are characterized by loud cracking or popping noises and a lot of dumbo smoke from the flue, but often times become undetected by the homeowner. Chimney fires are often explosive, and information technology is common for neighbors to hear the explosions and alert the homeowner. Chimney fires tin burn at extremely high temperatures (up to 2,000 degrees F).

These super-hot fires will weaken masonry chimney construction later creosote residue builds up in sufficient quantities. The conditions that tend to concenter creosote buildup include the natural lack of air supply in chimneys, burning forest that lacks enough seasoning, and cool chimney temperatures that occur in four-season environments. Overloading your firebox to become longer fires can as well contribute to creosote residue buildup in your chimney.

A professional chimney sweep cleaning a chimney

How often do chimney fires happen?

Chimney Safety Found of America (CSIA) statistics indicate at that place aremore than 25,000 chimney fires annually in the US. These causeover $125 million inproperty damage, only, if they spread to occupied homes the measurement of human being deaths and injuries is impossible to compute.

How often should you get your chimney cleaned?

You should accept an almanac chimney inspection by a reputable chimney sweep organization such every bit Petro. Depending on how oft yous use your fireplace to burn down wood, creosote residue will build up in your chimney. There are many factors that influence the amount of creosote stuck to the walls of your chimney, such as the volume of airflow into your chimney and burning improperly seasoned woods, which encourage such a buildup. Creosote will also buildup in the flue if y'all have unburned woods in the firebox.

There is non a "difficult and firm" rule of thumb on how oft to make clean your chimney. An exam past an experienced chimney sweep is the simply manner to learn if your chimney, whether masonry or metallic, needs a cleaning.

Modern prefabricated metal chimneys are especially treated to withstand the high temperatures of a chimney fire without suffering severe damage. Should they suffer impairment from a chimney fire, the professional recommendation is to no longer employ the chimney until yous replace the unit of measurement.

Forms of preventative maintenance.

A common homeowner question: "How tin can I maintain the safety of my chimney between professional person cleanings to avoid chimney fires?" There are things homeowners tin can do to meliorate avert ofttimes dangerous chimney fires. Here are a few steps homeowners tin accept:

Do non let ashes gather in the firebox. Clean them out if they are accumulating.
Be sure to just use seasoned firewood in your fireplace. If you gather it yourself, flavor it for a yr or more before you lot burn it. If you purchase it from a vendor, ensure that the firewood company but offers seasoned forest.
Ensure the damper is entirely open BEFORE lighting a fire in the firebox.
Do not burn pressure-treated or painted forest in the fireplace. This will hasten creosote buildup (pressure-treated wood) or potentially create toxic fumes (painted forest) that are unsafe to your family members.
Put the largest logs on the bottom of the firebox, followed by smaller logs on top. Why? The fire will burn down hotter and produce less smoke. Peak that pile with kindling (around one inch) and crushed newspaper to go the fire started properly. This method will retard residual buildup in your chimney.
Have an annual inspection of your chimney by a professional. Hire an experienced, reliable chimney sweep to mechanically make clean your chimney, removing tar and creosote.

Tin you get away with but using "chimney sweeping logs?"

It is not really the logs that do much, but the chemicals within them. Some "chimney sweeping log" products merits to assist retarding creosote buildup, and some of them do so. Those that are somewhat effective in maintaining your chimney between cleanings comprise chemicals like to the chemicals used by chimney sweeps for professional cleanings.

The chemicals are carried upward the flue by the rise exhaust from the safe fire in your fireplace. These logs break down the residue coating the within of your chimney, only many experts have a problem with the marketing strategy for these products.

If you read the "fine print" disclosures for these logs, you will see that the chemicals imbedded in them are labelled "might (the operative discussion)reduce creosoteby every bit much as 60 percent." Still, theWashington Public Burn Educators Association refutes this by publishing the following statement. "The use of chimney sweeping logs (and similar products) alone is not an adequate substitute for mechanical chimneycleaning andinspection because it does not provide for the same level of protection to the chimney system. Every time you burn down wood in your fireplace or wood stove, tar and creosote (highly flammable) are formed and over time build up on the within of your chimney."

The bottom line: Do not rely on chimney sweeping logs instead of having a professional chimney sweep clean your chimney. While they tin help y'all maintain your chimney between professional person chimney sweep cleanings, they do non supercede the need for regular chimney inspections and cleanings.

Hiring a chimney sweep.

When you exercise not want to chance, get recommendations for an insured, reputable professional, similar Petro Dwelling house Services. A certified chimney sweep, similar the team at Petro, tin brand the within of your chimney condom even if you merely use it for ventilation of your furnace or heating system. Just equally your furnace benefits from an almanac tune upwards, if you have and use your fireplace regularly an annual chimney inspection tin better your fuel use.

Your chimney is irrevocably wedded to your furnace and heating system. Even if you have not had your chimney swept in years because you practise non have or use a fireplace, you still might need to make clean your chimney.Call your local Petro Home Services locationtoday to schedule a chimney inspection from the certified chimney services team.*

*Chimney services may not exist available in all areas.