Pro Tips for Using Your Wood Fireplace
A wood-burning fireplace can bring a lot of enjoyment and comfort to a home – but only when it’s used optimally. Optimal use involves the type of firewood, how you burn it, and how you maintain and care for the fireplace.
Felgemacher of Rochester, NY, and Buffalo, NY, would like to share a few pro tips for getting the most out of your wood fireplace.
What are you burning in your fireplace?
This is a good question because not all firewood is the same. Wood that’s had time to dry out will burn better and produce much less smoke than damp, recently harvested logs.
Smoke is an issue for several reasons:
- It condenses in the flue, forming flammable creosote that can only be removed by professional chimney sweeping.
- It can back up into your home and carry deadly carbon monoxide into the air people breathe.
- It can stain the area around the firebox opening.
- The acids in creosote can damage the chimney liner and other parts of the system.
You can’t create zero smoke, but you can make less by using dry firewood.
How are you starting your fires?
The most efficient fires use the top-down method, which involves a stack of logs from largest to smallest, topped with kindling. This produces robust burns and heats the flue faster, helping the smoke rise more effectively.
The only thing that should be used for a wood fireplace fire is actual firewood. And the only things that should be used to ignite it are matches and kindling.
Never use:
- Clothing or other material
- Finished or stained wood
- Magazines
- Plastics or metals
- Cardboard
- Shipping containers
- Lighter fluid, kerosene, charcoal starter
These and similar items and solutions can burn extremely hot and make a lot of smoke.
Enhancing the draft
A sufficient air draft is needed to send smoke and combustion gases through the chimney. It also helps start and keep fires burning.
A chimney is designed to draft the fireplace it’s connected to. Several things can impede this process:
- A fireplace damper that won’t open or can’t be adjusted
- A flue packed with creosote, tree debris, or animal nests
- An airtight house that allows little or no air to move into the firebox
- Bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans that pull air out of the house and away from the fireplace
- A chimney liner or chimney structure that’s the incorrect size for its fireplace
Be aware of the signs of a chimney fire
Some chimney fires you can’t miss; others are small and go out by themselves without being noticed. Regardless of their size, chimney fires are destructive and occur more often than most people realize.
Here are three chimney fire signs to watch for:
- Unusually dark smoke leaving the top of the chimney or coming out of the firebox
- Strange tapping or clicking sounds
- The sound of a train rumbling in the distance
If you experience any of this, call 911 immediately and evacuate the house. Do not attempt to extinguish the fire yourself, and do not go back in the house until you’re told it’s safe to do so.
Chimney safety is our job
Felgemacher has been helping keep New York chimneys safe and efficient since 1953. We offer certified chimney sweeping to remove creosote and debris, all types of chimney repairs, and licensed chimney inspections.
If your chimney needs service, call us or reach out through our contact form.
