12 Tips for Keeping Your Fireplace Safe

12 Tips for Keeping your fireplace safe:

If you’re anything like me, you like having a crackling fire in the fireplace on a cold winter’s night. Watching the light dance on the walls, hearing the crackling and popping noise, and enjoying its warmth is one of the most charming aspects of the otherwise cold and harsh season.

There’s something alluring about having a fireplace in your home. According to the Hearth, Patio, and Barbeque Association(HPBA), a fireplace ranks second among the top features that buyers seek in a home! Additionally, 4 out of 5 American homes have a fireplace, hearth or pellet stove.

However, the perks of having a fireplace also come with a bit of responsibility. Any homeowner with a fireplace should know that the desire for a crackling fire also requires a lifetime commitment to make sure it’s in proper working order. In order to brush up on your fireplace safety before brushing off the hearth, check outthese twelve basics for safety and maintenance on a wood burning fireplace:

1. Don’t use chemicals. Fire and chemicals don’t mix! Never use gasoline, kerosene, or charcoal starter. Don’t burn painted, pressure-treated, or plywood. These can give off a whole slew of toxic chemicals that could enter your living space.

1. Avoid using wet, rotten, diseased, or moldy wood. Only start fires with dry kindling, newspaper, or pine cones. Pine cones contain natural resins that burn quickly and are hot enough to ignite firewood. Dry wood also burns more completely than wet.
2. Only use local firewood.This prevents the spread of tree diseases and insect pests to your neighborhood. The emerald ash borer has killed 50 million ash trees in the US just by being moved around in firewood.
3. Have the chimney inspected annually, and when necessary, cleaned by a professional chimney sweep.  According to Angie’s List, chimney inspections cost anywhere between $100 to $250, while chimney cleanings run between $100 and $350. While this may sound like a hefty fee for some, remember that a regular inspection and cleaning may save you from exorbitant repairs or fire damage in the future.
4. Install a chimney cap on top of the stack to help ensure that debris or animals don’t block the flue.
5. Install working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and have a fire extinguisher.  According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America, there are over 25,000 chimney fires each year in the United States, accounting for over 120 million dollars in damage to property! Most of these occur because the chimney hasn’t been swept lately, so if you’ve followed our instruction above, you should be good to go.
6. Make sure the area around the fireplace is clear of potentially flammable objects and materials.  You may be surprised to learn that heating systems are the second highest cause of home fires, just after cooking! Everyday objects like nail polish, plastic toys and polyester plants are extremely flammable and should not be left anywhere near a fireplace.
7. Clean out the ashes from your previous fire, and store them in a non-combustible container until you can properly dispose of them.  If the layer of ashes on your hearth is deep enough that it comes in contact with the grate, that grate may burn out and decrease its lifespan. Excess ashes also reduce the volume of wood that can be placed in the fireplace.
8. Give the ashes from a wood-fire a good 24 hours to cool down before removal.
9. Use a fireplace grate.  These grates allow for a better quality burn, better drafting, and the protection of your fireplace floor. Northline Express suggests using either a steel bar, caste iron, or grate heater depending on the frequency of use.
10. Never leave a fire unattended. You should have your attention to the fire and surrounding area to help prevent an unknown or unexpected event.
11. Do not close the damper until the embers have completely burned out.  If you are the proud owner of a gas fireplace, this resource provides great information and recommendations about how you can best care for that investment. Now go enjoy that warm and toasty glow.