Depending on the type of material it is made from, your chimney may be more susceptible to damage by water than by fire. Certainly true for masonry chimneys, that is counter-intuitive, with no one really thinking about water damaging chimneys. Generally, the worry with chimneys in the minds of homeowners is all about sparks and fires.
Water: Love It or Leave It
Water, however, is often the original source of the explosive chimney fire of which responsible homeowners are rightfully worried. Allowed to seep in, it expands and contracts with the freezes and thaws of changing seasons. It does not sound that bad; it sounds almost poetic. However, it seriously threatens the integrity of chimneys.
That perfectly natural characteristic of water stretches and shrinks the material it is in, further deteriorating your chimney’s mortar. Water also, perfectly naturally, rots wood and erodes even rock, in a process that can probably be made to sound enchanting. Look around a canyon, however, to fully grasp what water can do to brick with the simple passage of time.
Let the River Flow Somewhere Else
It is not a pretty sight when it is your chimney that is crumbling, and a river in your fireplace is not exactly the interior decorating you had in mind. Leaks are usually a pretty clear sign that a roof-top canyon is developing, but hopefully homeowners do not let things go that far these days. Protecting chimneys from water damage is as easy as scheduling a certified sweep to get up there and see how they are doing.
It is a good idea, by the way, to do this in spring, when chimney sweeps are easier to schedule and before the rains come. If repairs or replacements are necessary, you have plenty of time to finish the job before a chimney in good condition becomes even more critical. Fire is definitely dangerous and mandates routine chimney inspections; but when it comes to chimneys, it is important not to play with water either.
Hot air rises; that basic principle is the underpinning of your home’s chimney, which is there to channel fireplace smoke out of the house. It does so with proper up-drafting, but that depends on correct sizing and installation. Flue liners have to be sized for the fireplaces they vent and chimneys need to be of the right height for them to work efficiently.
The Right Height Needs To Be De-Coded
The construction of your home’s chimney also has to protect the house from the heat it carries. That means proper clearances have to be provided, so that the chimney does not transfer heat to the home’s flammable structural elements. Local codes govern both clearances and chimney height, but heights that meet code do not necessarily leave the chimney top where it needs to be.
Your chimney works best when its top is high enough to leave it in low-density air. That is what creates the ambient up-draft that can be felt in a well functioning fireplace system. Local codes may be satisfied with lower tops, but – raised to the height that is actually right for your fireplace, your chimney works better.
Drink Up! The Way Your Chimney Works
Warm air rises until it meets air that is either less dense or hotter than itself. It is drawn by – and into – that absence of air, if you will, like soda being sucked through a straw. If that straw is too big, too small, or extends too far above the rim of the glass, it is going to prove more frustrating than helpful.
Unless you are content for it to take ages to drain that glass, you need a proper straw. That means a flue liner sized for your fireplace and a properly constructed chimney of the right height. Explaining how it works is easy enough, but installing and correctly capping a chimney, we will leave to chimney professionals.
The reasons you cannot get a fire started in your fireplace are obviously different for different kinds of fireplaces. If it is a gas fireplace, check to see that the valve is open and that gas is being supplied to the fireplace. If it is a wood burner, problems can vary from unseasoned wood to insufficient kindling to an improperly built fire.
Obviously, a gas fireplace will not light if it is not receiving any gas, so confirming the gas supply is the first thing to do. There is usually a valve either at the bottom of the fireplace or on a wall switch that turns the gas on and off. This allows gas to flow from the main line through the pipe into the fireplace and should be turned off when the fireplace is not in use.
Another thing to check is the pilot light, which may have been blown out by wind or a sudden downdraft. If that is the case, restart it by turning the control knob counter-clockwise to the Pilot position. Click the red button until the pilot lights, hold it in for a minute, and then turn the knob to its “ON” position. Pilots are generally left on throughout the winter season but shut off when the fireplace is not in use to avoid their unnecessary expense.
If the pilot ignites but will not stay on, there may be a problem with the thermo coupling, which senses whether a pilot flame is present. If the pilot stays on but the fire will not start, thermo piling may be to blame. Thermo piling uses the pilot flame to produce an electric spark that opens the gas valve. As this is a tiny spark, it is also important for the fireplace and gas logs to be clean, as even a little dust can block the valve.
If your fireplace is wood burning and the wood is dry, you may simply need to rebuild the fire. Newspaper, plenty of kindling, sticks and wood pieces, all topped with larger logs, should be placed on the grate in that order. It needs to be possible for air to flow through and around the pile since fire needs oxygen to burn, so do not pack it too tight.
Tired of sweeping out ash, and conscious of the added expense of wood burning fireplaces, many homeowners are choosing to convert to gas. More efficient and less trouble, glass fronted gas fireplaces keep warm air in the house and cold air out when they are not in use. Cleaner, safer, and more economical, gas fireplaces can be a better option, and can provide the same ambience as a wood fire without the smelly smoke and combustible by-products.
Definitely a job to be handled by chimney professionals, perhaps the most difficult part of a fireplace conversion is getting gas to it. A separate gas line has to run from the meter to the fireplace, with flex line, cutoffs, and a sealer at junctions. Furthermore, air has to be bled from the lines and the natural gas has to be pressurized to state-dictated levels. The farther the fireplace is from the gas source, the more complicated the task.
Prior to the conversion, the chimney should also be cleaned by a professional chimney sweep. He can insure that nothing is blocking the chimney and deal with any creosote that has accumulated inside the flue. Maintenance will be much easier with gas logs than with a wood fire, but the usual concerns about nesting birds and critters still apply.
The most important decision for homeowners to make is the type of gas fireplace they wish to install. Both vented and vent less gas fireplaces are available, each with drawbacks and advantages. Municipalities may regulate this choice, sometimes requiring vented fireplaces, which reduce the chances of carbon monoxide poisoning.
An unvented gas fireplace does not lose heated air up the chimney so it does a better job of warming the room. However, an unvented gas fire can only burn for a few hours at a time, since both moisture and exhaust gases are given off and build up. Although they are more costly, vented fireplaces produce prettier fires and are still energy efficient, sealing heat behind glass doors and often blowing it into the room.
By Ronald Caillais on February 3rd, 2013 | Tagged with: Tags: chimney sweep, gas logs, wood burning fireplace |
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