Fireplace Safety Tips to Keep You Warm This Winter

Ensuring fireplace safety to peacefully enjoy crackling home fires in winter is part of the yin and yang of life. Fortunately, fireplace safety guidelines are uncomplicated. The following tips will help you to ensure that the winter season includes plenty of cozy fireplace fires safe in your home.

Use the Correct Fuel

The only type of fuel that is appropriate for a wood-burning fireplace is seasoned firewood. Other than dry kindling, it is hazardous to burn anything other than seasoned hardwoods and softwoods in your fireplace. Do not burn green wood because it releases excess combustion fumes and deposits copious amounts of creosote in the chimney flue.

Check Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

It would be impossible to place too much emphasis on the importance of operational smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. These devices both save lives every year. Carbon monoxide detectors provide warning about a deadly threat that is unseen, odorless, tasteless, and symptomless.

Avoid Overfiring the Fireplace

Be aware of the appropriate amount of firewood to use in your fireplace. It can be dangerous when a fireplace is overfired. The excessive heat created by overfiring puts the user at risk and can lead to a chimney fire and even a house fire. Never use flammable liquids in a fireplace because it creates multiple hazards, including that it causes overfiring of the fireplace.

Protect Children and Pets

Fires in a fireplace should never be left unattended, especially when there are children in the house. To minimize the chance of burns and protect children and pets, install a safety screen. Teach your children about fire hazards and the importance of staying at least three feet away from the fireplace.

Properly Handle Ashes

Ashes need to be removed from the firebox on a regular basis. If there is not an ash dump door in the middle of the firebox, you will need to scoop up the ashes and place them into a container after they have cooled. Use great caution because home fires have occurred when ashes have not been handled properly. Place the bucket of ashes away from the home on a non-combustible surface.

Schedule a Chimney Inspection

Fire safety experts recommend scheduling annual chimney inspections. During inspections by qualified chimney sweeps, the entire chimney and fireplace systems are visually checked for signs of damage. If there is any type of blockage in the chimney, the chimney sweep expert will recognize the problem. Chimney obstructions must be removed before using the fireplace. Thousands of house fires occur every year because homeowners skip that step.

Schedule Chimney Cleaning

Wood-burning fireplaces create messy chimneys. That’s because of creosote, which is a tar-like combustion byproduct that attaches to the walls of the chimney flue. Creosote is highly flammable, and it builds up layer after layer. Without regular chimney cleaning, creosote will obstruct the flue and hinder the chimney draft. Top chimney safety experts recommend annual chimney cleaning. Others say that chimney cleaning should be scheduled once there is 1/8 inch of creosote buildup in order to fully enjoy your fireplace with the peace of mind knowing you and your family are safe.

Is Your Fireplace Safe and Ready for Winter?

The certified chimney sweeps at Felgemacher Fireplace Shop provide reliable chimney inspection services as well as chimney cleaning, masonry repair and rebuilds, and more. Visit our shop in Cheektowaga, NY, at 2727 Broadway Suite 5. Call us for all of your fireplace and chimney needs at (716) 482-1820 today.