7 Items You Should Never Burn In Your Fireplace | Fireplace Solutions (2024)

FAQs

7 Items You Should Never Burn In Your Fireplace | Fireplace Solutions? ›

What can be burned in a fireplace? dried, cut firewood. An adequate fuel supply will consist of a mixture of hardwoods, such as maple and oak, and softwoods, such as fir and pine.

What can be burned in a fireplace? dried, cut firewood. An adequate fuel supply will consist of a mixture of hardwoods, such as maple and oak, and softwoods, such as fir and pine.

To keep your fireplace and chimney safe and functioning properly, you should avoid putting trash and paper (especially colored and glossy paper) into your fireplace. These materials contain chemicals that are toxic when burned. You may use a small amount of traditional newspaper as kindling if needed.

It's tempting to just toss items like bubble wrap, paper cups, plates, egg cartons and other trash into the fireplace just to get rid of it quickly. Stop. Just stop doing that. You could be releasing dioxins, which can lead to respiratory problems, headaches, even cancer when inhaled in a closed environment.

Poisonous Wood

Burning poison oak, poison ivy, poison sumac, Brazilian peppertree and poisonwood creates smoke with irritant oils that can cause severe breathing problems and eye irritation. “If it's got the word poison in it, I wouldn't be burning it, or eating it or anything else,” says Hammer.

Paper with colored print, such as wrapping paper, magazines, cereal boxes, and pizza boxes, may release noxious, corrosive, or carcinogenic gases when burned. Plywood, particle board, or chipboard. Manufactured wood products release toxic fumes and carcinogens when burned.

Softwoods like fir, pine and cedar make more smoke, and therefore more creosote.

Wood-Burning Emissions Threaten Lung Health

Emissions from wood smoke, discussed below, can cause coughing, wheezing, asthma attacks, heart attacks, and premature death, among other health effects.

Burning wood in your fireplace all winter may feel cozy and keep you warm, but smoke from those fires can also cause health problems. Wood fires release tiny particles that get into the lungs and can harm people with underlying health conditions. This can affect the lungs and the heart as well.

Finally, don't burn cloth or clothing in your fireplace or in your wood-burning stove. Not only does it smell bad, but clothing produces an excess amount of smoke and soot that will end up adding to the creosote in your chimney lining. Because cloth burns so hot, the likelihood of a chimney fire starting is increased.

Why are people getting rid of fireplaces? ›

Likewise, just as with all hot surfaces, the risk for burns is exceedingly high in homes with fireplaces, whether wood burning or gas/electric. For this reason, many people are removing the risk, especially those with younger children or pets, to try and help create a safer home.

Burning Plastic in a Fireplace is Not Okay

Whether you are considering burning plastic bags, bottles, packaging, or milk cartons, it is not safe to do so. Plastic contains many chemicals. When it is burned, those chemicals are released into the air, making it toxic and unsafe to breathe.

Magazines, junk mail and colored gift-wrapping paper may seem like harmless items to burn in a backyard fire pit. But the ink printed on the paper releases toxic fumes when burned. Recycle magazines and junk mail instead. If you need a better system to organize magazines, check out this easy project.

1- Paper Or Cardboard

This is dangerous since flames that enter the chimney can ignite the creosote deposits in the flue. Furthermore, the hot air and pieces of burning paper can rise through the chimney and ignite flammable materials outside the home.

The burning smell of the egg cartoons keeps mosquitoes away.

When hardwoods are burned in good conditions for a fire, they produce very little smoke or unhealthy particulate matter. A few examples of the most popular hardwoods for fires are white oak, ash, birch, red oak, hard maple, beech, hickory, pecan, dogwood, apple, and almond.

Can Wood Be Too Old to Burn? Firewood that's properly stored should be good for use for about 3-4 years. After that, you'll want to invest in some new wood, as old wood will not burn well for you.

Watch out for any wood covered with vines. Burning poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak, or pretty much anything else with "poison" in the name releases the irritant oil urushiol into the smoke. Breathing it in can cause lung irritation and severe allergic respiratory problems, the Centers for Disease Control state.

A fireplace should never be left burning if it is going to be unattended in any capacity. This includes during the night while you sleep. You should always extinguish the fire using the previously mentioned method anytime that you are going to leave your home or plan to go to bed for the night.

You should never go to sleep while a fire is in the fireplace. It may seem safe—after all, the fire is small and controlled behind a metal grate. What could happen? Too often, all it takes is a small spark before a home goes up in flames.

Is it bad to sleep next to a fireplace? ›

When you burn wood, it releases carbon monoxide (CO), a buildup of which can result in carbon monoxide poisoning. Early signs of carbon monoxide poisoning include dizziness, headache, confusion, nausea, and shortness of breath.

Creosote can be destroyed by treatment with chlorine, either sodium hypochlorite, or calcium hypochlorite solutions. The phenol ring is essentially opened, and the molecule is then subject to normal digestion and normal respiration.

Third degree creosote buildup in a chimney. Hot fires kill creosote. If you have little to no creosote built up in your chimney, keep burning your fires hot! If you keep your chimney temperature above 250º F, you are far less likely to have problematic amounts of creosote accumulate between yearly cleanings.

While carbon monoxide is invisible and can't be detected by smell, the following are possible clues that there is a CO problem in your home: Water streaking or rusting on your chimney or vent. Furnace panels which are missing or loose. A buildup of soot.

Mix equal parts water and vinegar in a spray bottle and spritz the fireplace area to deodorize at the source. Spray a towel with vinegar and wave it around the room to absorb the fireplace odor. You can also use this tip to eliminate cigarette smell in your home.

The best kind of wood to burn is one of the hard woods, such as oak, hard maple and birch because they release more heat and produce less creosote deposits.

Do keep sources of flame at least 5 feet away from where your oxygen unit is being used or stored. This includes cigarettes, matches, candles, fireplaces, gas burners, pipes, or anything else that could start a fire. Never smoke or use an open flame when wearing oxygen.

Be mindful of indoor air quality.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, burning wood releases particulate matter, benzene, formaldehyde, acrolein, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)—all of which can go straight from your lit fireplace into your family's lungs.

Is it safe to burn paper? ›

Home fireplaces, wood stoves, and backyard incinerators are not meant to burn paper. Modern paper contains many harmful chemicals like plastics, varnishes, and even formaldehyde. When burned, these chemicals can be released into the atmosphere and cause serious health problems for anyone who breathes them in.

While burning cardboard is less toxic than burning trash containing plastic, it still releases harmful toxins into the atmosphere.

While you might think that rolling up newspapers to burn in your fireplace would be an eco-friendly idea, hand rolled logs are not compressed enough to burn effectively and can actually cause damage to your chimney flue, pose a potential fire hazard, and harm the environment.

Smoke may smell good, but it's not good for you. The biggest health threat from smoke is from fine particles, also called fine particulate matter or PM2. 5. These microscopic particles can get into your eyes and respiratory system, where they may cause burning eyes, runny nose, and illnesses, such as bronchitis.

In short, while fireplaces can be cozy and inviting during the cold winter months, they aren't a good bet when it comes to saving money on your electric bill. It's far more cost effective to use your fireplace as an enjoyable, but non-essential, supplemental heating source in your home.

One traditional fireplace can't produce enough heat to warm your entire house. Fireplaces typically generate enough heat to warm the room they're in, and they can be very effective at heating that space. To heat your entire home, you would need a fireplace in every room that you want to be heated.

Cardboard in all forms (including pizza, cereal, and shipping boxes) should never be burned in your fireplace. These materials are often treated with wax, plastic, ink, paint, and other materials which can release toxic fumes when burned.

Burning plastic is better for the environment than putting plastic waste in landfills. Burning plastic releases harmful pollutants and emissions into the environment throughout every step of the process.

Burn hot fires. Never burn garbage, plastic, or pressure treated wood, which can produce harmful chemicals when burned.

Bamboo contains lead and other heavy metals like chromium, arsenic, cadmium, copper, nickel. Burning of bamboo produces Lead Oxide and other toxic oxides in gaseous form which are harmful if inhaled. So bamboo should not be burnt.

Can you burn photos in a fire? ›

Most photographs can be burned, but you should not inhale the smoke from them. Glossy photos can be especially harmful when burned because they contain toxic chemicals that are released when burned so you should wear a mask to protect your airway from any dangerous fumes.

You can use either a butane lighter or wooden matches for this. Ignite the papers 4–5 sheets at a time by lighting the edge or corner with a lit match. As the papers burn, hold them over the water. That way, if the flames get out of control, they'll drop into the water and be extinguished.

Paper Products

If you've been piling up newspapers, magazines, junk mail, gift-wrapping paper, cereal boxes, or old cardboard to light fires in your fireplace, you're making a mistake. Any type of paper with colored print will release toxic gasses when burned, putting your family's health at risk.

There are several things you can do with used wrapping paper. One thing you should never do with it is burn it. Burning glossy or waxy paper, especially if it is brightly colored or has a metallic finish, can release highly toxic chemicals into the air.

Mosquitoes hate the smell of lavender, citronella, clove, peppermint, basil, cedarwood, eucalyptus, peppermint, lemongrass and rosemary. They also hate smells such as smoke, for further insight, see our exploration on, does smoke keep mosquitoes away?

— you have a cheap and pleasant-smelling mosquito barrier. A primary ingredient in Listerine and several other commercial mouthwashes is eucalyptol, a natural oil that is also an active ingredient in botanical repellents.

What do you use for indoor fireplace? ›

So, while any kind of hardwood is the best wood to burn, you may choose a certain type for its accessibility, smell or heat content. The most common types of hardwood used for indoor fireplaces are oak, ash, hickory, birch and various fruitwoods.

Cardboard in all forms (including pizza, cereal, and shipping boxes) should never be burned in your fireplace. These materials are often treated with wax, plastic, ink, paint, and other materials which can release toxic fumes when burned.

A fireplace should never be left burning if it is going to be unattended in any capacity. This includes during the night while you sleep. You should always extinguish the fire using the previously mentioned method anytime that you are going to leave your home or plan to go to bed for the night.

Generally, seasoned wood is seen as the most environmentally-friendly fuel and therefore the one that is the most widely-reccommended. However, it's important to use only dry wood, which should contain 20% moisture or less. Smokeless coal fuels will produce much less air pollution than regular “house coal”.

On top of that, hardwoods such as ash, oak, birch, or beech are generally the best wood for burning and are recommended over softwoods like pine. This is because hardwoods typically produce more energy per log and ensure a high to moderate heat output for a longer period of time.

Wood burns best at a moisture content of less than 20 percent. Test wood with a wood moisture meter before you burn it. Start fires with newspaper, dry kindling, or all natural fire starters, or install a natural gas or propane log lighter in your open fireplace.

A non-resinous, hard wood will give you the best results. These hard woods burn for longer and release lower amounts of smoke. Materials such as oak, ash or maple are the best woods for a grand fire.