No matter how diligent you are when it comes to cleaning your home, it's still easy to overlook maintaining certain fixtures—especially if they're on the outside of your house...all the way up on the roof. So if you haven't done so already, you should be adding your oft-neglected chimney to your cleaning list. Ventilation structures designed to carry off smoke, chimneys should be swept regularly.
Why should you regularly clean your chimney?
You should have your chimney regularly cleaned as a safety precaution. "[From 2014 to 2018], the leading factor contributing to home heating fires (25%) was failure to clean, principally from solid-fueled heating equipment, primarily chimneys," Lorraine Carli, Vice President of Outreach and Advocacy of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), told House Beautiful in an email. "Creosote, which is an oily substance that builds up inside chimneys, is what leads to these fires."
In addition to preventing fires, cleaning your chimney can also help prevent blockages that can result in carbon monoxide poisoning, according to Rosemarie Spisto, a marketing specialist at Fred's Chimney Magic, a top-rated chimney cleaning business on Angie’s List.
How often should you clean your chimney?
Both the NFPA and Spisto recommend getting your chimney cleaned and inspected once a year by a qualified professional. Carli says that regardless of chimney type, you should you have your chimney swept at least one time a year. If you have oil or wood burning fireplaces, Spisto says that you should clean those twice a year, depending on usage.
While you should hire a professional to get your chimney cleaned and inspected annually, you can also follow best practices to help maintain your chimney year-round. To do this, Spisto recommends keeping your firebox clean, making sure your damper is open before using your fireplace, and investing in a chimney cap or crown, which are designed to prevent debris and even small animals from entering your chimney and home. She also suggests making sure your chimney has stainless steel liner to keep it up to code.
As March approaches, be sure to include hiring a professional chimney sweep to your spring cleaning list.
Spazzacamini (Italian for chimney sweep) was the term for child laborers in 19th- and early 20th-century Italy and Switzerland, where they were also known as Kaminfegerkinder in German-speaking areas.
your chimney at least once a year. However, if you use your fireplace a lot, you may need to do it more often than that. Sweeping your chimney is important because it helps remove soot and more importantly removes the build-up of creosote in the chimney.
Most experts recommend that you clean your chimney or hire chimney cleaning services at least once a year. The best time is before you begin frequent burning, so during the warm season in spring and summer.
HETAS encourage having your chimney swept at least twice a year when burning wood and at least once a year when burning smokeless fuels. The best times to have your chimney swept are just before the start of the heating season and after your stove has not been used over a prolonged period.
Both the NFPA and Spisto recommend getting your chimney cleaned and inspected once a year by a qualified professional. Carli says that regardless of chimney type, you should you have your chimney swept at least one time a year.
The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) recommends that homeowners using liquid and fossil fuel heating appliances clean their chimney at least once per year. Unfortunately, not all homeowners take the advice seriously, putting them at an increased risk of a fire and exposure to carbon monoxide.
Starting with uncooked potato peelings, you need to put the peelings directly on burning logs. The chemical reaction provided by the peelings softens the creosote; regrettably, it does nothing to rid a chimney of it. When all is said and done, nothing can replace an annual chimney cleaning and inspection.
When your chimney is not cleaned for a long time, a substance called creosote keeps building up in the flue during the use of the fireplace. This creosote is highly flammable and can lead to a dangerous chimney fire (an uncontrolled 2000 degree fire burning inside the chimney).
To solve the problem, burn an intense fire in your stove for at least one-half hour daily with the damper open. This should burn off the accumulated creosote in small quantities and reduce the potential for a chimney fire. Keep in mind that you also need to clean smoke pipes used with wood-burning furnaces and stoves.
If you don't clean your chimney, you are putting yourself at risk of chimney fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. The build up of soot, creosote and tar can block fumes from escaping and ignite under heat.
On average, for a standard chimney sweep, you can expect to pay between £60 to £90. However, for more complex jobs or for chimneys that haven't been cleaned in a long time, the price can rise to around £100 to £120. Get a few quotes from different chimney sweepers to ensure you're getting a fair price.
Ideally, you would schedule your annual sweep and inspection in the spring or summer, after you've closed your fireplace for the season. This ensures that any problems are addressed earlier rather than later while also getting you on our calendar as soon as possible.
You can clean a chimney top-down from the roof or from the bottom-up inside the house. If you're not experienced working on the roof of a house or if your roof is particularly steep, hire a professional or consider the bottom-up method of cleaning the chimney from the fireplace.
The buildup of creosote and soot can prevent a chimney from venting properly. This means the harmful smoke and gases that should be traveling up and out have no place to go and instead retreat into the home. Toxic fumes including carbon monoxide can poison the air inside the home.
If you use a chimney cleaning log regularly, they can work well. But you should get a professional cleaning as well. Not only can a chimney sweep get rid of stage one creosote, but a pro can clean up stages two and three as well. While a chimney sweeping log loosens creosote buildup, it won't get rid of it.
When your chimney is not cleaned for a long time, a substance called creosote keeps building up in the flue during the use of the fireplace. This creosote is highly flammable and can lead to a dangerous chimney fire (an uncontrolled 2000 degree fire burning inside the chimney).
Introduction: My name is Dean Jakubowski Ret, I am a enthusiastic, friendly, homely, handsome, zealous, brainy, elegant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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