Does a chimney cleaning improve performance? Starting with a good sweep improves the performance of your chimney. Most chimney companies recommend getting a chimney sweep at least once a year. This will...
Most chimney companies recommend getting a chimney sweep at least once a year. This will help aid the performance of your fireplace and will also help prevent fires. Cleaning your chimney on a regular basis also helps improve your health. Many times preventable allergies are caused by dirty chimneys. People become sick and don't even realize their chimney is to blame. Our chimney expert, Stewart Rabon, owner of Lone Star Sweeps in Austin, TX says chimney sweeps are one of the most overlooked items in the home.
"Always start off with a good sweep and that will always improve the performance. Sometimes I even look at them and go, 'Well it's kind of marginal,' but I sweep it anyway. That really improves the performance," Rabon says.
According to the website, doityourself.com, the primary job of a chimney service professional is to aid in the prevention of fires due to fireplaces, woodstoves, gas, oil and coal heating systems. Wood burning heating systems need supervision and care. There are many toxic chemicals released from wood as it turns to ashes.
Chimney sweepers install, clean, and maintain these systems. They inspect their performance, suggest changes to improve their performance, and educate the client about their safe and efficient operation. The basic task of a chimney sweep is to clean chimneys. Cleaning means removing the hazard of accumulated and highly combustible creosote produced by burning wood and wood products.
It means eliminating the build-up of soot in coal-and oil-fired systems. It means getting rid of bird and animal nests, leaves and other debris that may create a hazard by blocking the flow of emissions from a home heating appliance. In doing their primary job, sweeps also function as on-the-job fire prevention specialists. They are constantly on the lookout for unsafe conditions that can cause home fires or threaten residents with dangerous or unhealthy indoor air quality. Then, they give their recommendations to the homeowners they work for.
Most homeowners in the U.S. seem to have little working knowledge of chimney and venting systems. This situation is complicated by the fact that faults, damage, and problems are rarely visible to the homeowner. Rabon says people who replace a faulty automobile exhaust system because of the hazard it presents will allow their home's exhaust system, the chimney or flue, to go unchecked and unmaintained for years. The threat of chimney fires and unsafe indoor air quality conditions can be greatly reduced, perhaps even eliminated, if homeowners only understood that chimneys need regular maintenance. Every year, hundreds of fires are started because of faulty chimneys. Many of these fires could have been prevented had they been maintained properly by a professional.
If you fireplace is properly maintained, your chimney should last for years to come. You will have less repair work to do in the future. The better you take care of your chimney, the less money it will cost you in the end as well. You won't be worried about your family's safety, because you helped safeguard your home.
