Can a chimney cleaning improve a person's health? Less soot in the chimney means better venting through out the whole house. A chimney cleaning can help improve your health. Many times the soot and dust...
A chimney cleaning can help improve your health. Many times the soot and dust build up and bother people with allergies. Other times, dirty chimneys can cause more serious problems. Our chimney expert, Stewart Rabon, owner of Lone Star Sweeps in Austin, Texas, says cleaning your chimney is extremely important to ensure your entire family's safety.
"It's going to vent better, so you're going to have less soot and dust around the home. You've heard the term spring cleaning? Where do you think that originates from? Families are in the home all winter burning that fire and building up the little fine dust and soot around the house. So when spring comes, homeowners open up their house and clean it all out. That's exactly what spring cleanings are all about. The dust has been stuck in there all winter. So now at the end of the year, people can open it all up, and get all the material out that way. That's what it's all about," Rabon says.
Every year about 10,000 people are made sick, because of improperly functioning chimneys. This happens because they are exposed to some level of exposure to carbon monoxide.
According to WTHR-TV, an NBC affiliate in Indianapolis, carbon monoxide poisoning
claims about 4,000 lives a year in the U.S. Many of these deaths occur because of badly maintained chimneys.
You can't see or smell carbon monoxide. It doesn't warn its potential victims at all. If people have been exposed to some degree, they can develop cold and flu-like symptoms.
Once the home is saturated with carbon monoxide, then nausea and headaches will follow. It doesn't take a lot of carbon monoxide to hurt someone, especially a child.
With chimneys, fireplaces and furnaces, most carbon monoxide problems occur because of improper exhaustion of fumes. These problems can completely be prevented by getting an annual cleaning. A professional chimney sweeper can detect any leakage and fix any problems associated with your chimney. A chimney sweeper is your first line of defense against carbon monoxide poisoning in your home.
A chimney cleaning can improve your health, but it can also save your life. Every year dirty chimneys obliterate hundreds of homes. Once a sufficient amount of creosote builds up, it can catch fire. The resulting chimney fire can range from being barely noticeable to being so dramatic that it sounds like a low flying jet.
Chimney fires that spread to the rest of the house do so very quickly and consume the entire house before being brought under control. The high temperatures cause them to spread extremely fast, often trapping people in bedrooms. Every year hundreds of people die in their homes as a result.
When it comes to your health and safety, a chimney cleaning can help you avoid bigger problems down the road. Rabon says it's one of the most important things you could do for your home and your family. You'll sleep better knowing you're chimney is in top condition.
