Make Sure Your Fireplace is Ready Before It’s Too Late
JP Heating and Air Conditioning offers fireplaces and a full range of maintenance services to keep them safe and working properly for the cold winter months. While the temperature outside may be hot and muggy right now, but you don’t want to wait too long before getting maintenance on your fireplace before the weather starts to cool off. In today’s post, we will look at a number of helpful tips you can use to make sure your fireplace remains in a clean, usable condition.
Maintaining an Indoor Wood Burning Fireplace
Regular cleaning the interior of your fireplace is a crucial chore in making sure you can continue to use it safely and effectively. Keeping the chimney and fireplace clean prevents the buildup of creosote, which is important not only for the fireplace, itself, but for protecting your entire home. A significant buildup of creosote presents a serious fire hazard. You should also inspect the chimney cap periodically to make sure it isn’t allowing any animals or debris to get down into the chimney. This is why you should have your chimney inspected annually and schedule regular maintenance to protect your home and the people who live in it.
Outdoor Wood Burning Fireplace Maintenance
Keeping your outdoor wood burning fireplace requires similar steps that your indoor fireplace needs. You should sweep out the fireplace of left-over wood or other debris, clean out the creosote by using creosote sweeping logs, and make sure that any plants or foliage are trimmed back away from the fireplace to remove the threat of fires.
Preparing Your Indoor Gas Fireplace
While gas fireplaces don’t require as much maintenance as wood burning fireplaces, you still need to make sure they stay clean to minimize the threat of unwanted fires starting. You should keep the glass clean and make sure there are no scratches that could cause the glass to weaken and break. Make sure to thoroughly clean the firebox, inside and out, to keep it in safe working condition. Finally, you should make sure that the outside vent is clear of anything flammable items or anything that could be blocking the ventilation. You should also schedule an annual inspection to make sure there are no significant issues keeping you from using your fireplace.
Outdoor Gas Fireplace Maintenance
It’s crucial to ensure that the gas is turned off before you perform any maintenance or cleaning on your outdoor gas fireplace. The exhaust fan should always be working with the ventilation system open, and you need to clean fake logs at least once a month with a soft-bristled brush to remove the soot and ash.
By following these simple steps, you can take the preemptive steps to avoid any serious issues with your indoor or outdoor fireplace. If you need assistance with maintaining your fireplace, please Contact Us at JP Heating & Air Conditioning and let us know how we can help.
