Having a fireplace is great, but do you realize how dangerous and unsanitary an improperly maintained chimney can be? If you’ve just moved into a home with a fireplace, or just decided to install a fireplace in your existing home, it’s easy to overlook how important certain parts of your chimney system can be to keeping your whole setup clean and safe. I’m thinking especially of chimney liners (aka flue liners) and chimney caps.
A chimney that’s slowly collecting dirt and soot can turn into a potential fire hazard, and give off harmful carbon monoxide that you definitely do not want leaking into your home. But stainless steel chimney liners are an affordable move that can keep your chimney clean over greater periods of time, making your home safer from fires in the long run.
Chimney caps are the other crucial part of this equation. Chimney cover caps come in various designs and styles and serve a number of important functions. For one, chimney caps prevent your chimney from becoming clogged with debris, or worse yet with small animals like squirrels that may fall into the opening and become stuck. Another benefit of chimney caps is that they prevent rain, snow and other precipitation from falling directly into your chimney, soaking the interior and threatening to drench the fire beneath. What good is a chimney during a rainstorm if rainwater is constantly traveling all the way down to your hearth?
Last of all, but perhaps most importantly, chimney caps divert embers from a burning fire that would otherwise be carried straight up and out the opening of your chimney. These stray embers, if not stopped by a chimney cap, can badly damage your roof, or may even soar far enough to threaten your home and the surrounding area with brush fires as the embers catch in dry foliage or other debris on or around your roof. Don’t take this serious risk when all you have to do is make sure there are simple chimney caps installed on any openings that lead to a fireplace!
Sound advice, I’d say. No sense in burning your house down when a little tin and wire will keep burning embers from flying dangerously out of your chimney.
This is good to know, but chances are if you move into a home with a fireplace there’s already a chimney cap installed up there.
This is good to know, but chances are if you move into a home with a fireplace there’s already a chimney cap installed up there.
This is good to know, but chances are if you move into a home with a fireplace there’s already a chimney cap installed up there.
This is good to know, but chances are if you move into a home with a fireplace there’s already a chimney cap installed up there.
This is good to know, but chances are if you move into a home with a fireplace there’s already a chimney cap installed up there.
This is good to know, but chances are if you move into a home with a fireplace there’s already a chimney cap installed up there.