Is Your Chimney Harming Your Home’s Air Quality?
Indoor air quality is important, especially during the winter months, when our homes are closed up a lot of the time. The condition of your chimney and fireplace plays a big role in how clean and fresh your indoor air is throughout the winter and the rest of the year. Hudson Valley Chimney of Poughkeepsie, NY, would like to share some helpful information about how a chimney can affect your home’s air quality.
Smoke backups caused by flue obstructions
When smoke leaves the fireplace and moves into your home, it’s usually a chimney problem, not a fireplace problem.
If a chimney flue is clogged with debris or built-up creosote, or if it’s the wrong size for your fireplace, smoke has no place to go but down and out of the fireplace.
Solve this problem by having your chimney professionally swept once a year. If leaves, twigs, animal nests or other outside debris are filling up the flue, install a chimney cap. If the flue is incorrectly sized, have it inspected and fixed.
Faulty chimney dampers
Another reason for smoke backups is a damper that can’t open fully because of damage or being caked with rust or gunk.
Solve this problem by cleaning or replacing the damper.
Too much smoke in the fireplace
There are several ways to create excess smoke with your fireplace fires:
- Using damp (unseasoned) wood, which is very smoky
- Using way too much wood for the size of your firebox and chimney
- Using non-firewood items, such as plastics, cardboard, furniture pieces, magazines and the like
Note that non-firewood items not only create excess smoke, but they also produce toxic fumes that you don’t want in your home.
Solve this problem by using only dry, actual firewood and not over-stacking the firebox.
Carbon monoxide and other combustion gases
Smoke will lower your indoor air quality, and so will combustion gases that are present in smoke.
The most dangerous of these gases is carbon monoxide, an invisible, odorless poison that can be fatal to people and animals. Every year, emergency medical crews respond to carbon monoxide poisoning throughout New York State and the rest of the country. Some of these cases happened because of issues with a chimney or fireplace.
Carbon monoxide is produced during wood and gas fires. Excess amounts of it are produced when the fires burn inefficiently, such as with a faulty gas fireplace burner or if the wood logs in the fireplace aren’t getting enough air.
Solve this problem by taking the above steps to keep smoke from backing up. Have your gas or wood fireplace inspected and repaired. Install a carbon monoxide monitor near the fireplace.
Chimney odors
Even with the best use, chimneys collect some creosote and soot. This is enough to cause horrible odors if there’s a problem with the air exchange between your home and chimney.
Exhaust fans in kitchens and bathrooms can pull odors out of the chimney. A home that’s too airtight may not provide enough air to flow into the chimney and out its top. A damaged damper and a clogged chimney cap can also hinder the flow of air.
Solve this problem by:
- Having your chimney cleaned
- Monitoring your use of exhaust fans
- Making sure the fireplace damper works right
- Keeping the chimney cap’s mesh free of debris
Professional help for your chimney and fireplace
Hudson Valley Chimney is here to help keep your chimney and fireplace from polluting the air in your home. We provide a full menu of repair, inspection, cleaning and troubleshooting services.
Reach a chimney expert by phone or through our contact form.
