Spring Fireplace Maintenance
With the spring season now upon us, many homes across the nation will be closing down their faithful chimneys for the season. To ensure that your trusted fireplace remains in good condition for the next round of much-needed duty, certain steps ought to be taken, as follows:
First and foremost, a thorough cleaning of your fireplace should be undertaken. Accumulated soot, ash, and creosote deposits on the base of your unit, in addition to being unsightly, will give off unpleasant odors within your household when the spring dampness gets into them. Deodorants are available designed to counteract this particular effect, but nothing will top a good cleaning for the most gratifying results.
Second, consider engaging the services of a professional chimney sweep every other spring season, especially if your fireplace sees a lot of use. A professional will be able to simultaneously conduct an inspection of your fireplace and chimney so as to identify potentially costly cracks and leaks in the early stages of their development.
Third off, and most importantly, shut the damper properly. As you may well know, your fireplace damper should always be shut whenever your fireplace isn’t in use, but this goes doubly so when shutting down for the season. The energy losses from homes with fireplace dampers left open can reach very significant levels as cooled air from within the house will find escape through the chimney, contributing to inflated energy costs to you. Foul odors that may be circulating outside your home will also find a ready inlet into your abode. A doubly-sure method you may consider employing would be the installation of glass doors to work in tandem with the damper in order to form a surer, more effective, seal.
Note that glass door should only be considered when wood-burning units are in question as gas fireplaces require that the damper should always be open and unobstructed.
Lastly, should you be operating a gas fireplace or using gas logs, be sure to turn off the pilot light as this comes to represent a substantial energy expense when carried over time.
Contact Metro Garage Door today to talk about having fireplace maintenance for your home.