A wood-burning fireplace is one of the coziest things about winter, and if you have a fireplace that you use, there are steps you should take to make sure it’s maintained properly.
The main reason to maintain your fireplace is for the health and safety of your family and home, and the secondary reason is to save money. The cleaner your fireplace, the cleaner the fire, and the less wood you’ll have to burn tostay warm. And if you’re not sure where to start, here are five basic steps you can use to maintain your fireplace all year.
It’s important to have your chimney swept by a professional annually. This is because creosote buildup in your chimney can cause chimney fires, which can be extremely damaging to your home and dangerous to your family. A trained sweep will have all the tools to clean the chimney properly, as well as the skills and experience necessary to identify needed maintenance and repairs.
What exactly is creosote? Creosote is a carbon-based material composed of unburned firewood fuel. Because it is essentially fire fuel lining your chimney, the heat and gas rising from fires can easily cause creosote buildup to ignite.
When you’re using the fireplace regularly in winter, you should clean the firebox once a week. Luckily, the fires will keep the box pretty clean, so your job won’t be that difficult.
When the firebox is cold, scrub the interior with a stiff-bristled brush. Clean out ash from the grate, but leave a one-inch thick layer to insulate future fires.
Finally, vacuum out any extra ash and soot from around the base and opening of the fireplace.
Hearth cleaning is something you should do once a month or once every two months. To clean it, scrub it with soapy water before rinsing and drying the slate.
When you’re finished, use a soft cloth to rub in a layer of lemon oil, and then wipe off the excess with a clean cloth. This will produce a dark and glossy slate that is both clean and welcoming.
There are a number of reasons why you should open a window when you’re having a fire, and the main one is to keep the air in your house fresh and smoke-free.
Moreover, opening a window will provide the fire with much-needed oxygen, and when there’s a constant supply of fresh air coming in from outside, the fire won’t steal pre-heated air from your home to fuel itself.
Chimney caps are good for a lot of things, but mainly their purpose is to keep things out or to keep things in. For instance, a chimney cap will keep out:
Similarly, the chimney cap will also keep sparks and embers from flying out of your chimney, and this will prevent fires on your roof or in the brush surrounding your house.
The more care you take to maintain your fireplace, the cleaner your fires will be, and the cleaner the air in your home will be. Using your fireplace regularly in winter will keep the firebox clean, but you should still stick to these maintenance steps throughout the year to keep your fireplace and chimney spick and span.
For help with any of these steps, or for regular heating service and repairs in Brenham, TX, call the experts at Plumb Level at (979) 200-6674 .