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Understanding The Basics About Your Fireplace And Chimney
These are some basic fireplace and woodstoves terms to familiarize you with the anatomy and functionality. Chimneys are the physical structures that allow fire by-products to escape outside and are usually constructed of brick or stone. These are some of the components inside the chimney:
Flue: This is the actual tube that smoke travels up through.
Flue liner: This is the material that the flue is made out of. It's usually made of fire clay, refractory quality concrete, or metal. Some older chimneys may not have liners. Older unlined masonry chimneys may be used for gas appliances, but they should not be used for wood-burning appliances. The flue gases are corrosive to mortar and can weaken the chimney. Unlined chimneys should be relined before using them with woodstoves or fireplaces.
Flue pipe: This is the pipe that connects a fire or appliance to a chimney.
Smoke chamber: The area where the flue starts that sits right above the damper.
Damper assembly: Located between the smoke chamber and the firebox, these are adjustable louvers that open and shut to control airflow.
Firebox: This is where the fire burns and consists of firebrick, outer hearth, inner hearth, and sometimes an ash dump door.
Woodstoves are similar in design to a fireplace. Woodstoves have stovepipes instead of flue pipes and also have more vents for controlling airflow and temperature.
Chimney Fire Safety Precautions
Here are some safety precautions to help avoid dangerous and costly chimney fires:
- Have your chimney inspected annually by a qualified professional and cleaned when necessary.
- Use seasoned woods only (dryness is more important than hard wood versus soft wood considerations).
- Build smaller, hotter fires that burn more completely and produce less smoke.
- Never burn cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, trash or Christmas trees which can spark a chimney fire.
- Install stovepipe thermometers to help monitor flue temperatures where wood stoves are in use, so you can adjust burning practices as needed.
- Inspect and clean catalytic combustors on a regular basis, where applicable.
Dealing With Chimney Fires
Most chimney fires happen for one main reason: improper usage and care of wood-burning appliances like fireplaces and woodstoves. A roaring sound (some people describe as sounding like a freight train or a low-flying airplane) is typically the first indication of a chimney fire. If you hear this sound and it's growing louder, then you have every reason to believe there's a fire raging in your chimney. Clouds of black smoke and sparks pouring out the top of your chimney are other indications of a chimney fire. If it's a big fire, flames can leap several feet above the top of the chimney. If you realize a chimney fire is occurring, follow these steps:
- Get everyone out of the house.
- Call the fire department. The fire could be out before firefighters arrive, but it's a good idea to call them anyway.
- Close the damper or the air inlet controls to the fireplace or wood stove. This will limit air supply and reduce the fire's intensity.
- Put a chimney fire extinguisher into the fireplace or wood stove, just enough so you can insert the extinguisher's nozzle. Shoot the entire contents of the fire extinguisher inside and shut the door. If you don't have a fire extinguisher then baking soda or salt pellets also work. But you will require a large quantity. DO NOT use water because it could worsen things by causing more steam and gas to enter the chimney, which could crack or warp it.
- Use a garden hose to spray down the roof and the area around your house (not the chimney) so the fire won’t spread to the rest of the structure. This will lessen the chances of sparks igniting other combustibles like shrubs and trees. Keep the water away from the chimney because wetting down a hot chimney could cause it to crack or even collapse.
Simple Steps To A Cleaner Chimney
Keeping a chimney clean and using fire-burning appliances correctly are essential in preventing chimney fires. If you don't use your fireplace very often or you just moved then you probably are not certain if your chimney is clean. The following signs help indicate that you require a chimney cleaning:
- Burned wood odors coming from the fireplace when it's not being used.
- Fires that seem to burn poorly or that dump a bunch of smoke into the room.
- A black damper. Since it sits right above the firebox, the damper is often the easiest thing to see and reach. And it gets caked with creosote. Look or reach inside, and see what you can find. If you see black gunk or you can pull out chunks of the stuff, there's a good amount of creosote built up inside.
Building A Good Fire
Building a fire properly is essential for keeping chimneys in good working condition. Before being able to build a good fire it helps to understanding how wood burns:
1) In the beginning stages of a fire, the heat of the flames removes water from the wood via evaporation and vaporization. This heat only dries out the wood and doesn't make the fireplace or room any warmer.
2) As wood dries out, the temperature begins to rise. When it reaches 500 degrees F, the materials in the wood begin to break down and form volatile gases. These gases contain roughly 50 to 60 percent of the wood's heat value.
3) Temperatures continue to rise. At approximately 1,100 degrees F, gases will break into flames if enough oxygen is available. Once combustion takes place, the remaining material burns at temperatures above 1,100 degrees F. As it burns, it leaves ash behind as a by-product.
Wet wood contributes to creosote buildup so it is better to use dry, seasoned wood for fires. Some recommend that hard wood is better than soft wood, but it is more important to choose wood by the moisture content. Hard woods like oak, ash, hickory, and juniper burn cleaner than soft woods like cedar, pine, and fir do. Follow these steps for building a good fire:
1) Open the damper completely.
2) Put about a six crumpled sheets of paper or soft wood kindling in the bottom of the firebox. If possible, use both. Stack the kindling in a pyramid or in a crossed pattern on top of the paper. Spread over the entire bottom for an evenly burning fire.
3) Place a few small pieces of wood on top of the paper or kindling. Use small, split logs instead of big, un-split logs. Big logs hamper airflow and cause fires to burn slow and long, resulting in increased gas and tar levels. Stack the wood loosely, leaving enough room between logs to facilitate airflow.
4) Roll up a handful of sheets of paper, light it, and hold it near the flue opening. This will warm the flue and improve the draft.
5) Light the wood and paper in the firebox. After it ignites, adding more wood will increase the fire's heat. Add wood carefully at first because you don't want to smother the fire by adding too much.
Preventing Water Damage To Your Chimney
Water causes more damage to masonry chimneys than fire. The chimney is constantly exposed to all of nature’s elements: rain, snow, and freeze/thaw cycles. A masonry chimney is constructed of a variety of masonry and metal materials, including brick, mortar, tile, steel and cast iron. All of these materials will suffer accelerated deterioration as a result of prolonged contact with water. Masonry materials deteriorate quickly when exposed to the freeze/thaw process, where moisture that has penetrated the materials periodically freezes and expands, causing undue stress. Water in the chimney also causes rust in steel and cast iron, weakening or destroying the metal parts. Water penetration can cause interior and exterior damage to you home and masonry chimney including:
- Spalled and broken brickwork
- Deteriorated metal or masonry firebox assemblies
- Rusted damper assemblies
- Rotted adjacent wood and ruined wall coverings
- Deteriorated central heating system
- Decayed mortar
- Cracked flue liner systems
Here are four ways to prevent water damage to your chimney:
1) Install a Chimney Cap
Chimney caps, also called rain covers, are probably the most inexpensive preventative measure that a homeowner can employ to prevent water penetration and damage to the chimney. Chimneys have one or more large openings called flues, at the top that collect rain water and funnel it directly to the chimney interior. A strong, well designed cap keeps water out, and also prevents birds and animals from entering and nesting in the chimney. Caps also function as spark arrestors, preventing sparks from landing on the roof or other nearby combustible material.
2) Repair or Replace a Damaged Chimney Crown
The chimney crown, also called the chimney wash, is the top element of a masonry chimney. It covers and seals the top of the chimney from the flue liners to the chimney edge. Most masonry chimneys are built with an inadequate crown constructed from common mortar mix, the same mixture used to lay the bricks of the chimney. This mortar is not designed for and will not withstand years of weather abuse without cracking, chipping or deteriorating which will allow water to penetrate the chimney. In fact, most sand and mortar crowns crack almost immediately after installation because of shrinkage. A proper chimney crown should be constructed of a portland cement based mixture and cast or formed so it provides an overhang or drip edge, projecting beyond all sides of the chimney by a minimum of two inches. This drip edge directs the runoff from the crown away from the sides of the chimney, helping prevent erosion of the brick and mortar in the chimney's vertical surfaces. There are also some modern waterproof, non-shrinking, cement like coatings for repairing damaged mortar crowns that seem to work fine.
3) Repair or Replace Flashing
The flashing is the seal between the roofing material and the chimney. Flashing prevents rain water from running down the chimney into living spaces where it can damage ceilings or walls, or cause rot in rafters, joists, or other structural elements. The most effective flashing is made up of two elements, the flashing and the counter-flashing. The base flashing is an L-shaped piece of metal extending up the chimney side and under the roofing shingles. The counter flashing which overlaps the base flashing, is imbedded and sealed in the chimney's masonry joints. This two element flashing allows both the roof and the chimney to expand or contract at its own rate without breaking the waterproof seal in either area.
4) Waterproof your Chimney
Most masonry materials are porous and will absorb large amounts of water. Common brick is like a sponge, absorbing water and wicking moisture to the chimney interior. Defective mortar joints or the use of improper mortar or brick can greatly increase the tendency to absorb and convey water to the interior of the masonry chimney structure. Several products have been developed specifically for use as waterproofing agents on masonry chimneys. These formulas are vapor permeable which means that they allow the chimney to breathe out, but not in. Thus water that has penetrated the chimney or moisture that has originated from inside is allowed to escape while the waterproofing agent prevents water from entering from the outside. Paint or any non-vapor permeable water sealer should never be used as a waterproofing agent because it will trap moisture inside the chimney, accelerating deterioration.
Regulating Creosote Accumulation
Completely getting rid of creosote buildup isn't possible but there are several things you can do to keep creosote in check. Understanding how creosote forms and using and maintaining wood-burning appliances correctly is a good start. Cooler temperatures, moisture, and slow-burning fires cause greater creosote buildup. All wood contains moisture and wood burning releases pollutants in the form of gases and particulate matter. How much creosote forms and how quickly it forms depends on: how thick the smoke and fumes are, how hot the fire burns, and the temperature of the stove pipe or flue.
Every fire produces creosote and it builds up in every chimney. Here are a few factors to be aware of avoiding faster creosote buildup:
Poor air supply: Fires need oxygen to burn well. With fireplaces, not opening the damper wide enough or closing glass doors restricts the amount of air that flows into the fire. When this happens, the heated smoke from the fire can't travel as quickly up the chimney as it should. The longer the smoke stays in the flue, the more creosote it forms. With woodstoves, stopping down the damper or air inlets too soon or too much or not using the stovepipe damper correctly can cause the same problems.
Green wood: Green wood contains more moisture than seasoned wood. Burning it takes a lot of energy, which results in a cooler-than-normal fire that doesn't burn very efficiently.
Cool chimney temperatures: Creosote-creating condensation forms faster in exterior chimneys that are exposed to the elements than in chimneys that run through the interior of a house. Packing woodstoves tightly for an all-day burn creates large, cool fires instead of small, hot ones. When fires burn cool, chimneys can't heat up like they should.
Burning things other than wood: Plastic substances in things like boxes, wrapping paper, and trash can emit a corrosive acid that can worsen an existing creosote problem.
Understanding The Hazards Of Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a clear and odorless gas that is poisonous to humans and pets. Defective furnaces, oil heaters, and fireplace flues are primary sources for causing accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Other sources of carbon monoxide poisoning include gas appliances, stoves, water heaters, clothes dryers, and automobiles. Most people are unaware that they are being exposed to carbon monoxide but possible symptoms when a person’s CO level is at 10% include:
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Mild confusion
- Headache
- Irregular breathing and heartbeat
- Coughing
How to Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Here are a few easy pointers to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning in your home and protect your family.
1) Install carbon monoxide alarms/detectors
Install carbon monoxide alarms on each floor of your home, preferably near sleeping areas. Be sure to keep carbon monoxide detectors at least 20 feet away from any fuel burning appliances and at least 10 feet from high humidity locations like bathrooms and kitchens. If an alarm sounds then call a professional to inspect your home.
2) Test your carbon monoxide detector/alarm
There are special carbon monoxide alarm testing devices available on the market and it is a good idea to test your alarm occasionally to ensure it is operating properly. These testing devices will simulate a non-toxic carbon monoxide gas and trigger your alarm if it is working properly.
3) Schedule annual inspections for chimneys, fireplaces, furnaces, and gas appliances
Have your chimney, fireplace, furnace, and gas appliances inspected and maintained by a qualified contractor annually, especially before the start of the heating months.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 211 Standards For Chimney Inspections
Level I
A visual inspection of readily accessible areas of the chimney structure and flue and basic appliance installation and connection. There must be a lack of obstruction or combustible deposits in the flue. Included with all chimney cleanings and for furnace flues that are next to a fireplace flue.
Level II
Includes Level I visual inspection, plus proper clearances from combustibles in accessible locations, proper construction and condition of accessible portions of the chimney structure and all enclosed flues, all accessible portions the chimney exterior and interior, including areas within accessible attics, crawl spaces, and basements. Includes inspection by video camera scanning. This level of inspection is required by NFPA 211 when a house is sold or when an appliance is changed, or prior to relining a chimney as of 2000.
Level III
Includes Level II inspection, plus proper construction and condition of concealed portions of the chimney structure and flues (this requires demolition or removal of portions of the building where necessary). This type of inspection is used for cause and origin fire investigations or when a chimney has known damages such as a chimney fire or lightning strike. The customer must specifically request this type of inspection in order for it to be completed.