Fireplace blowers, also called fireplace fans, can bring heat into your home that would normally be lost up the chimney. Blowers are simple devices that circulate air within the firebox and send it out into the room without any smoke. They can work with masonry fireplaces and select wood and gas fireplaces and fireplace inserts. Is a fireplace blower the right solution for you? Let’s explore the idea.

The problem with traditional masonry fireplaces

The majority of homeowners who look into purchasing a fireplace blower are those using open masonry fireplaces. This style of fireplace is beautiful to look at and brings lots of ambiance to a room, but it’s not known as a producer of high heat. There’s plenty of heat in the firebox, but usually 80% or more of it channels right up the chimney and is lost forever.

This is why it’s common for folks with traditional fireplaces to have to use their home’s heating system in conjunction with the fireplace to keep comfortably warm during the cold months. And that keeps them spending more money than they’d prefer to on utility bills.

Make sure a fireplace blower is compatible with your fireplace

Fireplace blowers can be installed in many different types of fireplaces, but there are some models for which blowers are incompatible. If you have a manufactured fireplace, such as a zero-clearance gas or wood unit, and are trying to make it even more efficient, the manufacturer’s paperwork should tell you if a blower can be installed.

Blowers will work with most masonry wood-burning fireplaces, but before buying the product, it’s a good idea to check with a local hearth retailer or a certified fireplace and chimney service company to ensure that your fireplace will accommodate a blower.

Advantages of fireplace blowers

• Get heat into your room fast
• The heat arrives with no smoke mixed in it
•  Electrical usage is minimal
• Cut down on central heat dependency
•  Lower your utility bills
•  Keep using your existing masonry fireplace and enjoy its beauty

Other heating options

Fireplace blowers are a relatively inexpensive solution to an under-performing fireplace. But if you don’t like air blowing in your home and aren’t interested in doing the work to install the blower, there are some other options to significantly increase the amount of heat you bring into your home.

Fireplace insert:  These are heavy-duty appliances that come from a factory ready to install in the firebox of your masonry fireplace. Inserts produce and retain upwards of 80% of the heat they create, meaning a lot more heat for your home.

Zero-clearance fireplaces:  ZC fireplaces are complete fireplaces that are installed in a wall within your home. Like inserts, they come in a variety of attractive designs and finishes, and they produce far more heat than a traditional masonry fireplace.

Fireplace inserts are built to run on gas, wood or pellets whereas ZC fireplaces are available in wood or gas fuels. For safety reasons, installation should be handled by a fireplace installation professional.

Fluesbrothers Chimney & Fireplace of Kansas City, KS, can help you decide on the best option for supplemental home heating. Call (913) 236-7141 with questions about fireplace blowers, fireplace insert installation or zero-clearance wood or gas fireplace installation. We carry certifications from the Chimney Safety Institute of America and the National Fireplace Institute and will make sure your installation is done right.

The post How a Fireplace Blower Can Improve Your Fireplace Efficiency appeared first on Fluesbrothers Chimney Service.

During summer, you have little use for the chimney as its warm most of the time. As winter approaches, it starts getting cold, and you have to warm the house using the fireplace.

Before you begin using the chimney, first inspect it. Unless you are experienced and have the necessary skills, always let an experienced chimney inspection technician do the work. During the inspection pay attention to:

Flue dampers

These are devices that trap heat inside the house when there is no fire burning, and allow smoke to leave the house when the fire is burning. The dampers are at the top of the chimney, so you have to get to the roof of the house.

If working correctly, the damper should open fully. If you open and it’s not opening completely, find out where the problem is and fix it. If the damper is functioning correctly and opening fully, you should be able to look up through the flue and see the daylight.

To confirm, check using a flashlight. If you can’t see the light, the chances are that there are nests of birds or animals there. These not only trap heat, but they also prevent the harmful gases from leaving the house, putting your life and that of your loved ones at risk.

Before you start any fire, first get rid of any blocking materials that might be there.

Check the firebox

The firebox is where you place the logs and start the fire. Since you weren’t lighting a fire there, the chances are that you haven’t paid much attention to it. Inspect the chimney for creosote buildup, broken bricks and mortar.

If the creosote in the chimney is more than a 1/8^th of an inch, first get rid of the creosote before you light any fire there. Unless you have chimney cleaning skills, let an experienced chimney sweep handle the task.

If the bricks are broken, ask the contractor to replace them before you start using the chimney.

If the firebox is clear, place the grate near the back to ensure that most of the resulting smoke goes up the chimney and not back into the house.

Clear the area around the chimney

The holiday season falls right in the middle of the heating season. It’s not uncommon to find people placing decorations, furniture and other things near the fireplace hearth.

There is nothing as homely and inviting as a warm holiday season so ensure that the area around the chimney is as clear as possible. There shouldn’t be any papers, wood, or any other combustible materials near the chimney opening.

If you have a Christmas tree, keep it as far from the fireplace as possible. You don’t want the needles catching on fire, do you?

Check the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

These detectors are your lifesavers where they play a vital role in letting you know when the smoke and carbon monoxide levels are high enough.

To have peace of mind and protect your loved ones, have a detector in the same room as the chimney as this is where smoke and carbon monoxide come from.

One of the most common reasons why the detectors won’t work is if the batteries have worn out. To restore them, you only need to replace the batteries.

If the detectors are more than ten years and they aren’t working, you don’t have any other way out other than to replace them.

Of course, when replacing them, do it with better quality detectors that you are sure will give you a better service and at the same time last for a long time.

Chimney valuable tips

If all the parts of the chimney are in top condition, you should go ahead and start using the fireplace.

When using the fireplace, avoid burning any other thing other than wood. This is because the other materials might contain toxic chemicals that can be harmful to you and your family.

The materials might also lead to increased creosote deposition, which will force you to keep on cleaning the fireplace.

You can inspect the chimney by yourself, but for ideal results, let experienced chimney contractors Bowie handle it. They have the necessary inspection tools; hence they will do a better job than you.

This post first appeared on https://www.firstclasschimneyservices.com

If you are a regular television watcher, you must have come across chimney cleaning log adverts.

Also known as creosote sweeping logs, chimney cleaning logs claim to give an alternative to hiring a chimney sweep to clean the insides of the chimney by hand, which is messy and laborious. Are you wondering, “do chimney cleaning logs really work?”

Read on to find out.

How do cleaning logs work?

The logs work when you burn them in the fireplace. When you burn it, the log softens tar that might have built-up in the chimney. As it burns, the log releases chemicals that adhere to the walls of the fireplace. This loosens tar and creosote, which reduces the chances of fire starting.

What are the benefits of cleaning logs?

One of the benefits of using the logs is that they are easy to use. All you need to do is to unpack them and place them in a lit fireplace. These logs are also reasonably priced, and you can store them for a long time without getting spoilt.

If you have a bent chimney, it poses a challenge to the cleaning professionals to clean it properly. The cleaning logs are perfect for these chimneys as they release vapors that penetrate the bends and easily reach the creosote deposits.

Do experts recommend chimney cleaning logs?

Creosote sweeping logs have been in the market for over a decade, but chimney cleaning professionals were hesitant to recommend them until seven years ago.

When you go for a long time without cleaning the chimney, it’s normal for the creosote deposits to get extremely hard to get rid of.

The compressed chemical mix in the cleaning logs comes in handy at changing the nature of the deposits, making them dryer and flakier.

This makes it easy for the chimney cleaning professionals to clean the chimney.

Do chimney logs replace chimney sweeps?

The marketing companies have been marking the logs as a replacement for chimney sweeps, but this isn’t the case. While the logs are great in their working, you can’t substitute them for a chimney cleaning technician.

A chimney cleaning professional does much more than merely cleaning the chimney. He/she also cleans the smoke ducts, fireplaces, and flue pipes. The professional also inspects the fireplace to confirm whether there are any other issues present.

Even after using the logs, the creosote flakes fall at the bottom of the chimney. If you have a bent fireplace, the creosote can get trapped in the bends of the flue, which increases the risk of fire.

To keep yourself and your family safe, you still need a chimney cleaning technician to get rid of the fallen flakes.

So we can conclude that you can’t use the creosote cleaning logs as a replacement for chimney contractors. The logs help the chimney contractors have an easy time cleaning and repairing the chimney.

While the logs are highly effective when you use them in wooden fireplaces, they don’t work well in propane or natural gas fireplaces. This is because they need a wood-burning fireplace for them to work.

Do you still have to hire a chimney contractor?

From what we have seen, you can’t rely on chimney logs to clean your chimney. You will still need to hire a contractor not only to remove the fallen creosote flakes, but also clean the gas and propane chimneys that you can’t clean using the logs.

The chimney logs also can’t inspect the chimney. You need a chimney technician to do this.

When hiring the contractor, ensure they are experienced enough. You don’t want someone that will provide substandard services that put you at the risk of fire.

If this is the first time hiring a chimney cleaning services Columbia MD provider, one of the best ways of finding a good one is asking from friends and relatives. Which contractor have they been using? Would they recommend them?

When you hire this way, you have peace of mind, they will provide an excellent service as they are already proven.

Parting shot

It’s without a doubt that chimney cleaning logs have their place at reducing the amount of flammable creosote, but this doesn’t mean you should use them as a replacement for chimney technicians. Even when using them, always involve a chimney contractor.

This post first appeared on https://www.firstclasschimneyservices.com

Welcome to the end of your frustration over not being able to light good fires in your fireplace! We have the answers–and you are certainly not alone if this situation applies to you. Here we are in a high-tech, instant-everything society and yet lighting a fire is quite literally a prehistoric activity. The actual same three principles cavemen had to use are still in effect today. In caveman terms, “Fire good! All fire need: Air, fuel, heat!” Well, there’s a bit more to it than that. Let’s get started. As caveman Fred Flintstone might say, the following is all you need to yaba-daba-DO to start a fire in your fireplace.

AIR / OXYGEN

Air is needed in the firebox. If there is a stingy supply of air, it is usually caused by negative air pressure. One of the most common causes of negative air pressure is that a home is tightly sealed and may also have an exhaust fan running in the house. Opening a window nearby can solve the problem of lack of oxygen.

The draft is another factor. The flow of warm air coming from a fire needs to go up the chimney, not into your home. If your attempts at fires have failed because the fire wouldn’t catch on or the combustion fumes went into your home, the following steps can help to ensure a draft:

• Open the damper.
• Light a match, blow it out, and hold it up to the damper. If the curl of smoke doesn’t go up the chimney, a good draft needs to be established. 
• If you open the glass doors to your modern fireplace as well as the damper at least 30 minutes before you light a fire, it will help to change the temperature inside the appliance. The draft has to do with temperature differentials. 
• Warm air will rise but if there is too much cold air in the firebox and/or chimney, the smoke from the beginnings of a fire can’t go up the chimney. What people usually do about this is create a newspaper torch and carefully light it and hold it up toward the damper. The fire from the torch will displace the cold air after one or more attempts.
• If there still isn’t a draft, after you’ve tried these things, there may be an obstruction in your chimney. It is likely necessary to stop using your fireplace until a chimney professional can come out and conduct a chimney inspection. Any blockage will be identified and can be removed. Once it’s fixed, you should be set for building fires. However, it’s not always that simple. A wide range of issues could be preventing a fireplace from having a good draft, all of which chimney experts are familiar with and can help with.

FUEL

Use only seasoned wood for your fires. Seasoned wood is low in moisture. After logs are cut, they need to dry out for 6 to 12 months or longer before they’re dried out enough for a good fire. Logs filled with moisture create excessive smoke as the fire’s heat first goes to burn out moisture. Inexpensive moisture meters for firewood are widely available. If you are unsure about your firewood, test it and make sure there is less than 20% moisture before using it in your fireplace. 

Getting a fire started usually requires tinder and kindling. Tinder is something like dried moss or wadded-up newspaper that will quickly burn to get things going. Kindling is basically small sticks of dry wood.

There are different approaches to building fires. Some people build a loose stack of medium logs over kindling and slowly add larger logs. Others put the kindling on top of the logs to get them started burning. 

Make sure air can get between the logs, especially when you’re trying to get the fire going. 

HEAT

Ignition is all that’s needed once you have air and fuel. You can use a match or long lighter. The cavemen no doubt rubbed wood together, as Tom Hanks did in Cast Away. Please note: Never use flammable liquids in your fireplace. Doing so is highly dangerous.

When you’re ready for chimney sweep professionals to provide chimney services, contact the great team of chimney specialists at High’s Chimney Service. We’re based out of Gaithersburg, MD, and customer service is our chief priority. Call us today at (301) 519-3500, whether you need help getting a fire started in your fireplace like an experienced caveman or for any of our comprehensive chimney services.

The post What to Yaba-Daba-DO to Light a Fire in a Fireplace appeared first on Highs Chimney.