There’s just something about the crackle and pop of logs blazing in a fireplace that says “home.” A wood-burning fireplace creates warmth and ambiance, but also requires the exercise of some safety know-how and common-sense caution.
Is Your Fireplace Ready for a Fire?
Have your annual chimney inspection done by a trusted, certified chimney sweep. A sweep can make sure the components of your chimney are in good, working order and check for signs of wear and tear or damage.- Address any maintenance issues that can affect ventilation, create fire hazards, or increasingly compromise system integrity and efficiency over time, if left unchecked.
- Have your chimney professionally swept so you know you’re starting the year with any blockages removed. Things like twigs, leaves, and nests can lodge in your flue, and accumulated creosote and soot are extremely flammable.Avoid chimney fires, air supply that’s inadequate for a good, hot fire, and compromised indoor air quality by getting your sweeping booked.
- Store your firewood properly. If you cut it yourself, think ahead – firewood should be chopped to a manageable length, split to increase exposed surface area, and dried for 6-12 months. Stacked firewood should ideally be covered on top with the sides left open. This will allow for airflow to keep your wood dry.
- Have a chimney cap installed, if you don’t have one already. This can be done at any time of year, but asking about it during your annual inspection is a great idea. A proper chimney cap has a stainless steel lid and a metal screen around the sides to ensure smoke and flue gases can get out, while rain and other objects can’t get in. Caps are a great investment and provide more than their cost’s worth of preventative maintenance and safety benefits.
Preparing Your Home & Family
- Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in areas suitable to the layout of your home. For example, smoke alarms should be on every level of your home, outside of sleeping areas, and in all bedrooms. Test them frequently and keep the batteries fresh. Also, keep a fire extinguisher in a handy location.
- Talk with your children about fire safety. Be sure everyone in the family is educated about the risks of fire and how to avoid them. It’s also important to ensure that everyone is on the same page about what to do in an emergency situation. Make up an evacuation plan, then put it into practice.
- Double check that furniture and all combustible items are sufficiently far from the fireplace, then be sure not to let items such as books, blankets, or holiday decorations sneak too close as the season goes on. Keep these items at least three feet from your fire.
Getting Your Fire Going
- Always open your damper before you start a fire in your wood-burning fireplace, and leave it open until the fire is completely out.
Add only seasoned (dry, well-aged) wood to your fireplace. Green (newly chopped) wood has a higher water content than seasoned wood and therefore combustion will be less complete. This can accelerate the buildup of soot and creosote in your flue, both of which present hazards. Dried wood also burns more evenly and completely. Hardwoods burn longer than softwoods, but water content matters more than the species of wood. - Never use gas, lighter fluid, or any other accelerant to start fires. These will burn too hot and too fast, and they can cause issues for your fireplace and chimney – as well as reduce the controlled nature of the fire.
- Don’t overload your fireplace, either by chopping your wood too long or by adding too much wood at a time to a fire. An overfull fireplace is more likely to have embers roll out as the logs break down.
- Don’t burn any type of garbage, such as colored paper, plastic, painted objects, or treated wood, in your fireplace. These release dangerous chemicals into your living space as they burn. The same goes for charcoal, which should only be burned outdoors as it releases carbon monoxide while burning.
- Leave your metal fireplace screen in front of the fireplace to block any stray sparks or embers from tumbling out.
- When your fire is going, stay with it. Don’t leave home or turn in for the night until it’s out.
- Keep young children and pets away from the fireplace – don’t let them get too close.
When the Flames Have Died…
- When totally cooled, you can scoop the ash pile out from your fireplace. Leaving a small layer behind can help build future fires, but too much ash buildup prevents logs from receiving as much airflow as they should.
- Store ashes in a metal container with a firm fitted lid at least ten feet from your home.
- Continue to be vigilant about checking smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and maintaining good safety practices throughout the season. And be sure your next chimney inspection is on the books so you can enjoy uninterrupted use of your fireplace.
Trust Our Team Today
West Tennessee Chimney is here to handle all your fireplace and chimney care needs. If you have questions about how to keep your chimney system running optimally, we’d be happy to be of service! Simply call 901-483-5113 or reach out online today.
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