GREENWOOD CLEAN ENERGY, INC. - REDMOND, WA 98052

The Importance of Chimney Care

A Greenwood wood boiler is the most efficient, cleanly-burning option for heating your entire home and all your hot water, but they do still produce some exhaust, and you’ll need a chimney or flue in your home. We’ve noticed that sometimes people don’t realize that care and upkeep chimney—though they’re one of the lowest-maintenance features of your home, you can’t take them for granted, or you could endanger your entire family.

How do you make sure your chimney is in its best shape? Get a regular chimney cleaning! If you use your stove often, you should be sure a professional inspects your chimney at least once a year. A cleaning will protect you against the biggest threat to your chimney: creosote build-up.

Creosote Build-Up

Creosote is the product of unburned carbon from your fuel source that is taken up and out of your fireplace in the form of vapor. Once it reaches the cooler air in your chimney, however, it becomes solid again, and sticks to your chimney liner. In its first stage, creosote just looks like a fine powder—more commonly call “soot—” and can be easily removed with a light brushing. In its second stage, however, it becomes solid, and forms what look like dark shiny shards inside your flue, and it needs to be drilled out. The third stage is when there are thick layers of hardened creosote tar, which will only become denser with every fire. Third stage creosote is almost impossible to remove, and it’s usually easier to just replace to whole chimney liner.

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The Dangers of Creosote

So what’s so bad about creosote? Not only does creosote build-up prevent the air flow in your chimney and sometimes causes foul odors, it’s also highly flammable. If a spark from your fire ignites the creosote, it will cause a chimney fire, which can be very dangerous. Though your chimney is built to withstand high temperatures, a chimney fire can burn at over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. It can damage your liner, the mortar work of your chimney stack, and possibly cause the adjacent framework to ignite from the heat. Sparks can also shoot out of your chimney onto your roof, lighting it ablaze, or out of your hearth and onto you carpet. Chimney fires are very dangerous, and it’s important that you not neglect your chimney’s health.

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Why Choose Greenwood

Of course, a Greenwood boiler, because it burns fuel so efficiently, leaves very little material to produce creosote. If you’re worried about creosote build-up or chimney maintenance, a Greenwood boiler is the right choice for you. But even if you use one of our clean-burning boilers, you should get regular chimney cleanings anyway. A chimney sweep can inspect the state of your chimney and its components, and they will also be able to remove any nested birds, squirrels, or insects that might be inhabiting your chimney. Not only do you want to avoid burning up the innocent critters, but their nests can clog your chimney, either igniting and causing a chimney fire, falling onto your damper and blocking it, or preventing smoke from escaping and pushing it back into the room.

Here are Greenwood, we want you to be as safe as possible while enjoying the incredible heat, value, and efficiency of our boilers. If you have any questions about your chimney, please see our friends at the NCSG or call us today! We’re happy to help.

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