This time of year, many homeowners depend on the heat from fireplaces, wood stoves and other fossil-fuel heating appliances to keep their family warm during the winter months Sadly, each year thousands of homeowners’ experience billions of dollars in property damages and injuries from failing to recognize the importance of chimney cleaning.
Did you know there are more than 70,000 house fires annually causing more than $1.3B in property damage and over 2,500 injuries?
Protecting Your Home
Safety should be priority #1 while enjoying the fireplace or wood stove in the cooler months. Your chimney is an important ventilation system that allows smoke, toxins and dangerous fumes to escape your home. A clean chimney means a safer, more efficient fireplace and home heating appliance.
As with all fossil burning appliances, a certain amount of residue from creosote and soot stick to the flue and masonry inside the chimney with each burning fire. When the creosote gets too thick, the heat and burning embers from the fire is often what sparks a fire in the chimney. Cleaning your chimney on a regular basis would have prevented numerous house fires.
Did you know that chimney fires were the cause in approximately 30 percent of all house fires?
Home Heating Efficiency
Also, your fireplace efficiency declines when a surplus of creosote forms in the chimney. The additional circulation of cooler air reduces energy efficiency which requires you to burn more wood and other fossil fuels, more often to stay warm.
Also, small birds, rodents and insects can clog the flue preventing the escape of toxic fumes. And because toxic fumes have trouble escaping clogged chimneys, the risk of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning increases.
Did you know that there are more than 200 carbon monoxide poisoning deaths each year?
A professional chimney cleaning by a certified chimney sweep will significantly increase the efficiency of your fireplace and other home heating appliances so that warm air stays inside and the dangerous fumes stay outside.
Chimney Repairs Costs
Wood-burning fireplaces can reach temperatures of 1100°F or more! This creates ash, bits of wood, soot and other particles that are by-products of the combustion process that can cover the flue liner, smoke shelf, damper and masonry with dirt, grime and contaminants.
Having your chimney professionally cleaned helps to diminish the wear and tear on your chimneys’ components. Also, a thorough cleaning can help uncover minor masonry problems before they become larger and more costly chimney repairs.
Credits:
The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA)
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
About ABC Cleaning, Inc. of Orlando, FL
Serving Central Florida since 1992, ABC Cleaning, Inc. has been the acknowledged leader in air duct cleaning, chimney cleaning and dryer vent cleaning. We’re NADCA certified, we consistently invest in and have the most modern equipment and utilize the latest technology available with the best-trained service technicians in all of Orlando. If you need help deciding whether to replace or repair faulty ducts, please contact us at ABC. We provide quality HVAC service throughout Orlando and the surrounding communities.
Please give us a call today at (407) 381-2120. We are here to help!
