place to hang art

Annual Inspections – Have your fireplace and chimney inspected and cleaned by a professional to ensure that it’s obstruction free and clear of creosote – a black, oily accretion that builds up on the inside walls of the chimney. Because creosote is highly combustible, a thick accumulation creates a fire hazard.

Length of Use – Use the fireplace for short-duration fires, no longer than five hours.

Plan Ahead – Clear the area around the hearth of debris, decorations and flammable materials. Use a metal mesh screen with fireplaces. Leave glass doors open while a fire is burning.

When to Clean – During periods of heavy use, clean the wood-burning firebox regularly once the embers are cold. Leave about an inch of ash because it acts as insulation, allowing the coals to heat faster and retain more heat.

Upkeep – Check that vents are unobstructed and able to do their job. Clean the fan and all air circulation passages. In non-wood burning fireplaces, clean and adjust glowing embers and logs for best appearance.

Cap Your Chimney – Have a cap installed at the top of the chimney to deter animals from entering, help prevent water damage and keep debris from blocking the opening. A spark arrestor will prevent live embers from escaping the chimney.

Safety First – Always keep a fire extinguisher on hand in case of emergency. Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors with charged batteries.

Use Common Sense – Never leave the fire unattended. Make sure the fire is completely out before leaving the house or going to bed. Keep children and pets away from the fireplace. Do not use a vacuum to clean up ashes, because embers can smolder long after the fire is out, creating a real fire hazard.

Wood and Bugs…yes bugs in winter really not fair!

Choose wood types depending on the type of fire desired. If a fireplace is for aesthetic reasons, burn cottonwood, maple or elm, which create bright flames. If the fireplace is used for heat, burn harder, heavier woods such as oak and ash.

Homeowners may unwittingly bring insects into their home along with firewood, but as long as wood is properly handled and stored, insect emergence in the home can be avoided. If wood is kept below 50 degrees, insects living in it will remain dormant. However, if taken indoors and allowed to warm up, insect activity resumes and they may emerge in the home. Emerging insects can then move out of the firewood, wander into the rest of the house and become a nuisance.

The best way to avoid invasion is to store the wood outside in the cold until it’s ready to be burned so insects don’t have a chance to warm up and become active. Store wood away from the house and under a cover, such as in a woodshed, unheated garage, utility building or under a sheet of plastic or sheet metal roofing to keep it dry. Leave an air space between the wood and covering.

Splitting, sawing and stacking wood in loose piles raised off the ground accelerates drying. Few insects will survive if wood is dried quickly and is kept dry.

Firewood also may be stored in a sealed box or container. Apply a coat of residual insecticide inside the container before putting wood inside. But don’t directly spray the firewood or allow wet spray to contact the wood because pesticides can release poisonous gases when the wood is burned.

If firewood insects, such as bark beetles, ambrosia beetles and both roundheaded and flatheaded wood borers, do emerge indoors they are not likely to attack wood in the home. However, powderpost or lyctid beetles can reinfect the hardwood from which they emerged and can attack other unfinished hardwoods in the house.

Correctly manage woodburning stoves or heaters. Often, fires from woodburning stoves start when the residents are gone or asleep. To guard against this, adjust the air intake vents before leaving the stove alone. Don’t leave woodburning stoves alone unless the heater can be prepared for an amount of unsupervised time.