However, a fall chimney sweep will prepare your fireplace or stove to function properly throughout winter. Sometimes, your best defense against needing a premature chimney build is a good offense. If you’d like to avoid what feels like an unnecessary chimney rebuild, don’t skip this important home maintenance task. You’ll also want to keep your fireplace and chimney clean and in good repair. You should have your chimney inspected and cleaned by a licensed chimney sweep at least once per year.
Keeping your chimney and fireplace clean can do wonders to keep everything working correctly. Check out this post about how to properly clean your fireplace if you’re unsure exactly what to do. The damper is what closes or opens your flue between uses, which is what protects your fireplace from the elements. However, dampers may be blocked by nesting critters or from long years of disuse. Sometimes a backdraft is caused by forgetting you have the damper closed. The stack effect relies on the ability to pull cool air into the firebox.
We’ve written extensively before about roof leaks and our investigation process for that. Click here to read our 3 unexpected causes of roof leaks blog post.
When your fireplace goes unused, especially in the cold months, the flue fills up with cold air. That cold air will slowly travel down the flue, while heated air will attempt to travel up it. And because the cold air is heavier than heat from a freshly lit stack, it will block heat from rising.
What Makes Smoke Go Up the Chimney?
It’s common to find small animals, birds, and even bees living inside chimneys. Insects, birds, and critters will bring twigs, leaves, and other organic matter inside your chimney to build their nests, creating a blockage that restricts airflow.
HOW DOES SANTA GO DOWN THE CHIMNEY?
Carbon monoxide is among the toxic gases released during combustion. If the chimney liner is damaged, toxic fumes will enter the home. Carbon monoxide is known as The Silent Killer because it has no odor, is unseen, and causes no symptoms until the point when a person may not be able to escape to safety. A chimney liner is a clay, metal, or ceramic conduit inside the chimney. A clay tile liner is built when most chimneys are constructed because clay tiles are extremely durable and yet cost-effective during the building process. Eventually, the liner wears out or suffers damage of some kind, and then it’s important to schedule repair or replacement of the liner. A wood stove, in comparison to a wood-burning fireplace, is a more efficient heat source.
Flue Lining
Stay safe by practicing good ladder safety and by having an assistant monitor you when you are on the roof. Flames blast out of the top of the chimney and back down into the firebox. Due to thermal expansion, the flue may crack at some unreachable mid-point and shoot flames into the walls from the inside. Chimney downdraft refers to when smoke no longer travels up the flue the way it’s supposed to.
Prepare the Chimney Cleaning Brush
Read more about Chimney Cleaning Los Angeles here.
It is important to have a smoke extractor at home for several reasons. First of all for safety, since smoke and toxic gases are dangerous if inhaled. It also prevents the risk of clogging and protects the chimney from corrosion. In order to keep that home fire burning all winter long, you’ll need your chimney to remain clean and clear of buildup and debris. Pellet stoves are more complex systems, burning organic material like compressed wood or biomass pellets with the use of electricity.
