Chimneys are a blessing as they provide ventilation and keep the house clear of smoke and toxic gases. However, sometimes this blessing can turn into a major inconvenience. Due to various reasons, your chimney can stop doing the one thing it’s built to do, keep smoke out of the house. In that case, you have to act quickly to avoid further damages.
Here are some of the ways you can keep your house clear of chimney smoke.
Use a Fireplace Grate
A fireplace grate is an apparatus with mesh or grille-like features used to put wood in the fireplace. A grate helps to keep the wood above the surface of the fireplace. This allows for better airflow, letting the wood burn better and also places the wood higher into the fireplace towards the chimney.
Having the fire higher in the fireplace stops smoke from escaping the fireplace and entering the house. A grate also ensures that the smoke travels upwards in the chimney rather than coming back down.
Light Fire At The Back Of Your Fireplace
Another way of making sure smoke doesn’t enter your house is to light the fire at the very back of your fireplace. Keeping the wooden logs at the back of the fireplace doesn’t allow smoke to get out of it. Not only that, but keeping them at the back also places them right underneath the chimney allowing all the smoke to travel upwards.
Using the Top-Down Method
Keeping the logs first in the fireplace and then the fire starting material is known as the Top-Down method. The advantage of using this method is that the amount of smoke coming out of the fireplace is very low as the fire starts at the top and travels upward towards the chimney.
Use Good Quality Wood
Using good quality wood helps to prevent the smoke from coming back into the house. A good quality wood means that there will be no moisture in it, and it will be dry. A dry wood log burns much better as compared to a damp one. Damp wood gives off more smoke than the flue can handle and will cause the smoke to travel back downwards.
At the same time, too dried up wood will also produce excessive smoke, which will eventually escape from the fireplace and fill up your house.
Preventing smoke from coming from the fireplace should be every house owner’s priority when using the fireplace. Not only does it keep the house smoke-free, but it also keeps the air in the house fresh and clean. However, if for some reason the smoke is escaping your fireplace or travelling down the chimney, and you can’t figure out why then getting help from a professional like CT Chimney Repair should be your next step.
We are a company situated in Unionville, Connecticut, offering chimney repair services and a wide range of other services, making us the leading chimney repairing company in CT.
Book us today and get a free estimate for your repairs.
