What you need to know
Key information about your chimney & fire
Many people are not aware of the issues of failing to properly use and maintain their home fire, flue and chimney. We have put together some useful information around this to help you understand the importance of proper maintenance and safety.
- We keep our appointments
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You can have your chimney swept any time of the year. However we recommend mid to late summer. Any issues are rectified before you try to use it again. Your liner/chimney will last longer. Your fire will be pristine the first time you need it when the weather gets cold.
Ideally keep the temperature between 260 and 460 degrees celsius. This can be easily tracked using a stove thermometer. Putting too much in your fire can cause excessive heat which could damage the flu, or cause further problems, especially if there is a buildiup of creosote in your chimney.
Stage 1 – When creosote first forms it is thin and flaky and easily removed by a chimney sweep if regularly maintained. stage 1 creosote is not a concern.
Stage 2 – As more creosote builds up, it thickens and hardens making it much more difficult to remove with just a brush. Modern chimney sweep technology is often needed to remove this.
Stage 3 – This is a thick sticky tar-like substance. Once it reaches this stage it is highly flammable, burning easily if it is made hot enough, causing dangerous fires in the chimney/flue itself. Professionals using chemicals are often needed to resolve stage 3 creosote.
Chimney fires can be deadly, although do not be alarmed, these fires are less common as chimney liners are especially designed to prevent these fires from spreading. That said creosote when it builds up is a highly flammable chemical and if it reaches stage 3 a spark can ignite it. Bad chimney fires can reach upwards of 2,000 degrees and at this point your chimney liner is in danger of cracking and the fire spreading. This is why regular chimney sweeping and maintenance is important.
If you burn treated wood such as old decking in your fire it can release toxic chemicals including in some instances arsenic. Exposure to this toxic ach can be harmful, not to mention its negative impact on the environment.
If you are a landlord, let holiday homes or require a certificate for insurance purposes you will be pleased to know Soot Solutions provides a certificate with all completed work. We are a full member of NACS the National Association Of Chimney Sweeps.
Soot Solutions purposely tries to keep its costs competatively low to encourage its customers to continue regular chimney maintenance for their own safety and to thank them for choosing Soot Solultions.
We work with multi-stove, inglenook and open fires.
Creosote in a chimney
See exactly what creosote build up in a chimney looks like. This video was taken at a chimney sweeping job in Nottingham.
