How Often Should You Clean Your Chimney?
No matter how diligent you are when it comes to cleaning your home, it's still easy to overlook maintaining certain fixtures—especially if they're on the outside of your house...all the way up on the roof. So if you haven't done so already, you should be adding your oft-neglected chimney to your cleaning list. Ventilation structures designed to carry off smoke, chimneys should be swept regularly.
Why should you regularly clean your chimney?
You should have your chimney regularly cleaned as a safety precaution. "[From 2014 to 2018], the leading factor contributing to home heating fires (25%) was failure to clean, principally from solid-fueled heating equipment, primarily chimneys," Lorraine Carli, Vice President of Outreach and Advocacy of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), told House Beautiful in an email. "Creosote, which is an oily substance that builds up inside chimneys, is what leads to these fires."
In addition to preventing fires, cleaning your chimney can also help prevent blockages that can result in carbon monoxide poisoning, according to Rosemarie Spisto, a marketing specialist at Fred's Chimney Magic, a top-rated chimney cleaning business on Angie’s List.
How often should you clean your chimney?
Both the NFPA and Spisto recommend getting your chimney cleaned and inspected once a year by a qualified professional. Carli says that regardless of chimney type, you should you have your chimney swept at least one time a year. If you have oil or wood burning fireplaces, Spisto says that you should clean those twice a year, depending on usage.
While you should hire a professional to get your chimney cleaned and inspected annually, you can also follow best practices to help maintain your chimney year-round. To do this, Spisto recommends keeping your firebox clean, making sure your damper is open before using your fireplace, and investing in a chimney cap or crown, which are designed to prevent debris and even small animals from entering your chimney and home. She also suggests making sure your chimney has stainless steel liner to keep it up to code.
As March approaches, be sure to include hiring a professional chimney sweep to your spring cleaning list.
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