Let’s go over the ways your chimney can affect your home’s energy efficiency.
Do you use your fireplace as a primary heating source or rely on it just for supplemental heating? Regardless, your home’s energy efficiency is determined by the efficiency of your chimney. A clean, optimally operating chimney is efficient; a chimney in any other condition is not. Let’s go over the ways your chimney can affect your home’s energy efficiency.
A Clean Chimney is a Happy Chimney
The cleanliness of a chimney directly affects the heat and combustion quality of logs in the fireplace. Fire cannot reach its peak when airflow is hampered. With poor airflow, logs won’t burn properly, less heat is produced, and smoke and toxins can come back into the room.
Over time, soot and creosote build up within a chimney – often to the point of impeding airflow. Additionally, blockages from outside, like bird nests, leaves, or twigs, can create blockages. Annual chimney cleaning by a professional sweep is the best way to keep your chimney and fireplace operating efficiently.
Poor Airflow
Along with chimney blockages, a lack of interior drafts can affect your fireplace’s efficiency. Chimneys operate on the principle of convection or warm air rising. For air in the firebox to rise, a source of air must be drawn into it.
One way to solve drafting issues with your chimney is to open a window slightly or two to bring a small amount of air into the home. Remember that exhaust fans in kitchens and bathrooms and the exhaust from clothes dryers can wreak havoc on the air pressure inside your home, creating a perfect environment for fireplace backdrafts.
Not Using Your Fireplace
When you’re not using your fireplace, energy efficiency in the home can be compromised. You can address this problem by closing the damper and sealing it tightly when not burning a fire. Another way to prevent interior heat loss is to insulate your chimney. When chimney masonry is cold, it transfers that cold to the chimney’s interior and, eventually, into your home. Tempered glass fireplace doors also prevent excessive interior heat loss.
Using these tips will ensure sufficient and correct airflow to your chimney and fireplace and that your home remains energy efficient. Contact Champion Chimneys today for professional chimney inspections and cleaning services.
Schedule Your Chimney Cleaning from Champion Chimneys, Inc.
When you need a trusted company for your chimney inspection and chimney cleaning, you can trust our team. Champion Chimneys, Inc. is a fully licensed, bonded, and insured chimney service company that has served customers in Baltimore County, Howard County, and Anne Arundel County, Maryland, since 2001. Our team is trained and certified by Certified Chimney Professionals, Inc. (CCP, Inc.). We specialize in all aspects of your chimney system. Whether you need chimney and flue cleaning service or a full chimney rebuild or inspection, contact us at 443-Chimney today and let us fix all your chimney problems. Also, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.