How Often Should A Fireplace Be Serviced?
This article looks at when you should get your fireplace serviced. Find out more about servicing your fireplace and how often it requires an inspection.
If you have a fireplace within your home, it is incredibly likely that you walk past it or at least look at it every day. But are you maintaining the fireplace as well as you should?
Why Do I Need To Service My Fireplace?
Many fireplace owners wrongly assume that there is absolutely nothing wrong with their fireplace and that there is never a need to get the system serviced.
Though it may feel as if you are saving money in the short term when this mistake is made, you will actually find very quickly that your fireplace will begin developing all kinds of issues.
Before long, the fireplace will fall into disrepair. This is exactly why having your fireplace serviced regularly is so important.
The fireplace service process ensures that your fireplace is fully safe to use, as well as making sure that the fireplace looks just as magnificent as the day the unit was installed.
This can mean adding new coals to maintain the fireplace's glowing embers, or it can simply mean taking out fireplace components that are in poor condition and changing them out for something that looks fresher.
Once you get a fireplace serviced booked in, you might also want to consider having your chimney swept too.
During the summer season, it is unlikely that you will have been using your fireplace, this is all the more reason to get the whole unit cleaned. Before you have your fireplace serviced, we would absolutely recommend having your chimney swept and tested to ensure that the chimney is fit and safe for use. During the months that your chimney is not being regularly used, blockages and obstructions can begin to form.
These are obviously very troublesome when the winter months roll around, and you are ready to use your fireplace again. There are very serious implications to failing to have your chimney and fireplace properly maintained. There is a risk of dangerous gas emissions finding their way into your home, for example, carbon monoxide.
Ensuring that your chimney is maintained by a professional can hugely reduce the risk of chimney fires occurring too. This is because the amount of flammable creosote found in the fireplace and chimney is reduced.
Reasons Why You Should Get Your Fireplace Serviced
Safety of everyone on your property
The number one reason to ensure that your fireplace has been serviced is safety.
Your fireplace needs to be fully safety checked and serviced at least once per year to ensure that you, your family, and anyone else within your home can live safely.
The major concern that can arise from an unserviced fireplace and chimney is the risk of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
When your fireplace is serviced, the engineers will ensure that any dangerous and harmful gases are successfully being vented out of the premises in accordance with safety regulations.
They should also check to ensure that there are no fire risks present in the fireplace system.
Ensure your gas fire lasts longer
The regular servicing of your fireplace is important for identifying any defects before they become more serious issues.
If you simply leave your fire without the system being fully checked, then a minor defect can over time transform into a problem that is much more significant.
The issue could stop your fireplace from working efficiently or, in some cases, working at all.
Having your fire serviced regularly and taking care of small repairs whenever possible can ensure that your fireplace system keeps working for a longer time.
Plus, there's the added bonus of always knowing the fireplace will work when you need it.
Save money on bills and repairs.
A well-maintained and serviced fireplace will be a lot more efficient and, in the long term, save you money through the running costs going down.
When a fireplace is running inefficiently, it burns more gas than is necessary to warm the property as desired. The system is inefficient and not as effective as it could be.
Comply With Guarantees & Insurance
There are many cases where manufacturers are willing to offer extended guarantees that are only valid if the fireplace has been successfully serviced annually.
In these cases, you need to have your fireplace serviced, as well as have proof of the service so that the guarantee can remain in place.
What is involved in a chimney cleaning?
A chimney sweep will remove all soot, creosote, and blockages from the fireboxes, smoke chambers, dampers, and chimney liners. Keeping your system clean is absolutely essential to the operations and lifespan of your chimney.
A chimney that is not maintained properly can become a fire hazard or simply deteriorate to the point where the costs of repairing it would be extremely costly.
Certain types of wood can lead to a much worse buildup than others. For example, untreated wood is packed with moisture and does not burn cleanly, causing more chimney buildup. Pinewood can also lead to creosote in the flue building up at quick speeds; this makes pinewood an undesirable wood type to be burnt.
The rule established by the National Fire Protection Association outlines that any wood-burning fireplaces should be inspected at least once a year to see whether the system needs to be fully swept out and to be checked for any dangerous defects.
Defects can include damages or cracks that will need to be repaired. It can also include blockages caused by animals or birds. These defects or blockages can lead to serious repercussions such as house fires; this is exactly why it is so important to have a professional check your chimney annually.
There are several different types of gas fireplaces: vented gas logs, ventless gas logs, and direct vents.Vented gas logs are a very visually attractive option, but in actuality, they don't really put out too much heat. They are inserted into fireplaces that are capable of burning wood.
This leads to a buildup of soot on the blogs, this is exactly why it is needed for the fireplace to be cleaned annually.Vent-free are the most common form of gas logs. They aren't quite as visually appealing as vented logs, but they produce a lot more heat. The downside is that there is also a lot of moisture produced, as well as a distinct odour.
This type of log is very vital to get checked annually. The gas fireplace is not vented to the outdoors, so if the system is malfunctioning and produces soot or carbon monoxide, the substance will enter the living space. This can end in fatality.The final type of gas fireplace is the direct vent.
They can be distinguished visually through the layer of glass that separates the fire and the rest of the room. The glass can sometimes get a buildup of white film on the inside. This simply needs to be cleaned. As for the rest of the servicing, the controls and burners just need to be inspected regularly to make sure they work as designed.
Unless there is a breakage, there is almost never a need to have an electric fireplace serviced. The high-end models have an air filter installed in the back that can need replacing, cleaning, or inspection on an annual basis.
Keep this in mind if you have an electric fireplace installed.
Do you have a period fireplace which needs repair or restoration? If you live in the Hastings and East Sussex area, our expert antique fireplace restoration services can help.