Tag: dryer cleaning

Safely Enjoy Your Fireplace or Wood Stove

Every year over 35% of residential fires are caused by heating sources. Many of them are due to creosote buildup in fireplace chimneys and stovepipes. Having a fireplace or a wood burning stove adds charm to a home and can be a great heating element, but they come with a lot of responsibility. You need to keep them clean, know what to burn and what not to burn in them, know how to burn those materials and how to store them. It takes every piece of that knowledge to make sure you’re protecting your home and its company while they’re in use.

Fireplace

Keeping wood stoves and fireplaces safe starts with a yearly inspection and chimney sweep. Make sure the specialist you hire is certified to perform their services. It’s always good to do a little research on how long they’ve been in business, any unresolved complaints that may be filed against them, and by following up with some of their current references. Don’t forget to also ask about their business liability insurance.

The next part of keeping stoves and fireplaces in great shape is then using them properly. To help keep the creosote from building up inside your fireplace chimney keep the glass doors open while the fire is burning, but don’t forget to keep them closed when the fire is out. Have a screen cover in front the fireplace to protect the surroundings from sparks and stray embers. You may even want to slightly crack a nearby window while using it to keep good air flow. When it comes to avoiding creosote buildup with wood stoves keep air inlets open and make sure not to restrict the air supply. Whether fireplace or stove, place a nonflammable rug in front so that if a spark does escape it doesn’t damage your floor.

Knowing how to build and tend to a fire is crucial for safety and maintenance. Build your fires small with seasoned hardwoods for fireplaces and seasoned wood pellets for pellet stoves. Never use trash, plastic or any cardboard as burning materials. Fires should be built on a grate for support and towards the rear of the fireplace. First place in the kindling and logs and then open the damper. Before you light your fire, an easy way to make sure the smoke will properly escape up the chimney is by quickly blowing out a lit match and watching where the smoke travels. Never start a fire with flammable liquids, and only use your fireplace tools to handle burning logs.

Fireplace and wood stove safety doesn’t end inside of the home. Protecting the exterior of your home involves proper storage of your burning materials, proper disposal of ashes and landscape maintenance. Place your firewood rack 30’ from your house. Keep the ventilation areas clear by trimming any branches around the flues, vents and/or the chimney. You can put a mesh screen to cover the chimney and it will protect the roof from any stray sparks. Vent pipes should be at least 3’ beyond your roof line. Did you know it can take up to three days for fire ashes to completely cool? When finally ready to remove them make sure you open the damper and a window so that rustled ash will be sent up the chimney with the negative air pressure, and then keep the removed ashes contained in a metal container at least 10’ from any structure.

Last but most importantly, test your smoke detectors on every floor monthly and don’t forget to change the batteries once a year. Need help with friendly reminders on that? Follow any of our social media accounts and we’ll post when it’s time.

So when your system is clean, the area maintenance is done, you have the correct burning materials properly stored, and all other safety measures are in place you’re good to go. It may sound like a bit of work but it is all completely necessary to protect your home from suffering a fire damage, smoke and soot damage. The best part you can then reap the rewards of all your efforts and cozy up to a nice toasty fire on one of these chilly nights. ‘Tis the season and I hear it’s going to be a cold week. Enjoy!

TOP 10 HOME FIRE PREVENTION TIPS

TOP 10 HOME FIRE PREVENTION TIPS

Fire_extinguisher
  1. Test smoke alarms. You’ll find this on almost every one of our handy household maintenance check lists. Batteries in smoke detectors should be replaced once a year and each unit should be tested often.
  2. Check your fire extinguisher expiration date. Not everyone realizes that these actually do expire. You don’t want to find this out when you actually need it. Add a helpful reminder and program the expiration date into your smartphone or online calendar.
  3. Clean your dryer vents! You should clean the entire dryer and ventilation system at least once a year. The flammability of lint is highly underestimated. Need some guidance? YouTube has a few great video tutorials for “dryer cleaning”, or contact the manufacturer of your machine. Make sure to not only clean the screen, but clear debris from the back of the dryer, and check that the exterior vent is also clear.
  4. INSPECT. This is another repetitive goodie. As with any prevention, regular inspection is key to detecting a problem before it becomes a disaster. Check all exposed wires, interior and exterior, for any loose areas or damage. Check for soot marks or damage to your electrical panel. Act immediately if you find a strong odor around your gas connections. Check any pilot lights and don’t forget about places like your attic where animals could chew wires. Make sure circuits aren’t overloaded and that all areas around major appliances are clear of dust and debris. The coils under that heater aren’t going to clean themselves.
  5. Clean your range hood, stove, and oven. Buildup of grease and cause a nasty kitchen fire. If you do experience a grease fire, remember not to use water! You must either extinguish it or smolder it.
  6. Maintain your heating sources. No matter the heat source, be it a furnace, fireplace, or space heater; be sure to have it properly maintained. Furnaces and duct work should be cleaned and the filter changed. Space heaters should be properly used within safe distances of flammable items, and their chords should be in perfect condition. Fireplaces should be cleaned and chimneys swept.Check for cracks and other hazards around the hearth. Be careful what you burn in there! Some woods pop excessively, like cedar.
  7. When cooking, stick around. Unattended cooking is of the most common causes of house fires. If you are going to leave the room, turn off your burners. The same goes for outdoor grilling.
  8. No smoking in bed! Or laying down anywhere for that matter. If you must still smoke, stay standing and prevent yourself from falling asleep.
  9. Install additional protection such as a sprinkler system and a lightning protection system. Sprinkler systems are great extra protection while you are there and peace of mind when you are not. These systems combined with smoke alarms will increase the value of your home and give you a greater chance of surviving a fire. A lightning strike on a property can ruin the entire electrical system and blow every connected electronic device in it. Lightning protection systems provides a safe route for the electrical current to follow, rerouting it from the sensitive routes within your home. You could take it a step further and add additional surge protection to prevent scenarios such as a small surge in the power lines from starting a fire in your electrical panel. If you are experiencing a storm capable of producing lightning, it is best to unplug all outlets, especially large electronics such as computers, televisions, and dyers.
  10. Consult a professional if you find that something is flickering frequently or if certain fuses blow often. This could be signs that there is a deeper hidden problem you’ll want to fix right away.

Please consider all of these tips strongly for the safety of your property. For the day you’ll spend checking them off, you’ll save yourself thousands of dollars and years of worry. Experiencing so many things that we can’t prevent such as major storm systems, tornadoes, and floods, gives us all the more reason to prevent the things we can.