Your fireplace and chimney have put up with a lot to keep your family warm this winter.  Before you trade it in for central air conditioning, consider giving it a little more attention with a yearly maintenance check up.  Many homeowners neglect maintenance, but forgetting or disregarding an yearly chimney cleaning can be hazardous for your family.

Yearly cleanings will help prevent house fires .  Creosote, a byproduct of burning logs, is responsible for most chimney fires.  It accumulates in the bottom of the fireplace pit and within the chimney liner.  As smoke travels up the chimney, it will build up creosote and ashes along the liner.  The smoke will also condense along the inside of the chimney, also known as the flue.  This creosote can catch fire if it is left building up too long. 

Creosote is mainly created when a fire is lit.  Cold chimneys tend to condense more smoke than warm ones, so if you live in a cold climate, you will be more prone to this problem.  Keeping a continuous fire burning in your fireplace will build up less creosote than letting fires go out and starting new ones. 

Chimney fires can become so hot, they heat nearby walls and the roof to the point they burst into flames as well.  Even if the fire in the chimney is put out quickly, it can create so much heat that cracks could form in the chimney and flue.  These cracks would allow poisonous carbon monoxide gas leak back into your home.  You can prevent these dangers through proper maintenance .   

Creosote can also cause cancer.  As it builds up, creosote may emit dangerous carcinogens.  This is only a concern if you do not perform regular maintenance on your chimney.  If you are concerned about potntial carcinogens in your air, contact a local heating and cooling company and ask about conducting indoor air quality tests.

You can clean the chimney yourself, just be very careful!  You will need a steel chimney sweeping brush, rope that measures the length of the chimney, a jug full of water and a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner.  Carefully climb to the roof.  If your chimney has a cap or spark catcher, these will need to be removed.  Tie the jug to the bottom of the chimney brush and the rope to the top.  Let the brush pass through the chimney multiple times until it comes up fairly free from debris.  Once the dust has settled, vacuum the soot and debris that fell into the fireplace.  If you discover your fireplace has no damper, consider having one installed.  Without a damper, heated air is being drawn out of the chimney every day.  A mason will be able to install a damper or mount a chimney cap with damper on the top.

Once this is finished, consider sealing air leaks around the chimney.  Silicone is the best option because it stays flexible for a long time.  The only downside to silicone caulk is that it cannot be painted.  If your chimney is enclosed, fill in the gaps around the chimney with non-combustible insulation, such as rockwool. 

By keeping up with your annual cleaning and inspection of your chimney, you can enjoy fires in the winter, worry-free.

Like most areas of expertise you will find that those involved in heating oil have their very own language. This lingo can feel a bit intimidating to the uninitiated. Here are some of the most common words used so that you understand what is being said when discussing your heating oil needs.

Biofuel Heating Oil Heating oil that has been derived from a plant source is known as a biofuel. Heating oil which has been produced from the soya bean is one example. As the struggle to find greener ways of heating the planet goes on, biofuel is a word that is being heard more and more often.

Crude Oil This is a thick black substance and it has been derived from plants which died millions of years ago. When crude oil is refined there are a number of products which are produced and heating oil is one of them. There is a fear that crude oil will become harder to find in the future and as a result the products made from it will become much more expensive.

Heating Oil Burner One of the most crucial parts of your heating oil system is the heating oil burner. Heat is created in an oil boiler by the heating oil burner. Heating oil has to enter the burner as a mist so that it is easier to light.

Speculator There is a lot of money to be made from buying and selling oil. Most of these people will never actually see the barrels of oil in that they are buying and selling and all the transactions will occur over the web or by phone. Speculators are often blamed for causing prices of oil to be very unsteady.

These are just a few of the words you will hear talked about by those in the heating oil industry. If you want more information on the oil industry you should be able to find more terms which are used on a day to day basis.

Heating ones home in the cold months of winter can cost a fair packet. Fuel such as electricity and gas show no signs of coming down in price. Clever people are switching to heating oil as a fuel though. Heating oil suppliers can ensure everybody’s tanks remain full. Oil suppliers are prevelant throughout the UK, and will supply, for instance heating oil Matlock.

Stacking your wood in a firewood storage rack is one of the easiest and safest ways to store your firewood. A rack will hold the wood off the ground to help it stay clean and dry and it will also help keep the stack stable to prevent it from falling over. Here is how to build a firewood storage rack the easy way.

There are many ways to build a firewood rack that can range from being as simple as driving two posts in the ground to more complex as welding steel to make a sturdy steel rack. Firewood racks are also commonly made of wood. The advantage of wood is it is inexpensive and easy to work with using common tools.

The problem with building a firewood rack out of wood is that it can be more difficult to make a sturdy connection between the base and the upright side supports. Although it can be done, this is much easier to do with steel since simply welding the pieces together will make a sturdy connection. But most people don’t have access to welding equipment or the know how to use it. Steel can also be more costly than wood.

There is a simple and inexpensive solution that combines the low cost and simplicity of wood with the strength of steel. The solution is firewood rack brackets. These brackets can be bought inexpensively and when combined with a few pieces of 2×4 lumber, they will make you an instant sturdy and inexpensive firewood storage rack.

Firewood rack brackets come pre welded and drilled so all you have to do is cut some 2x4s to the length you want and slide the ends into the brackets. You will need two 2x4s for the base, and the length you cut them will determine the length of the rack. You will then need four 2x4s for the end supports and the length you cut them will determine the height of the rack. With some brackets you may also need two short pieces which will determine the width. With these brackets you can make a rack whatever size you want and later change the size by either cutting or inserting new 2x4s.

Once the rack is assembled you can stack firewood on it as it is. The weight of the wood will hold it all together or you can bolt or insert screws into the pre drilled holes for even more strength. This type pf rack is simple, sturdy, versatile and inexpensive. It can be used for storing firewood logs as well as many other uses including making shelves or racks for storing other materials.

Carbon Alarm – The Hidden Dangers of Carbon Monoxide:

Like most people; not only did I not know just how grave carbon monoxide was, I had a lot of misconceptions of just how lethal it really is.  honestly, I didn’t even really know of how I would even be exposed to it in my own home, other than sucking on the exhaust pipe from my car.

First off, carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless and toxic.  It is impossible to smell, taste or see the fumes and thus it can kill you before you are even aware that you have been exposed to it.  In fact, most cases of carbon monoxide poisoning happen in the home.

I, like most American’s at least thought that I would recognize the signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.  However, have you ever had one of those nights where you just didn’t feel well?  What did you do?  If you’re like most people you probably just went to lay down on the couch, or went to bed.

Perhaps you had a headache, felt tired and little bit nauseous.  Maybe a little bit dizzy and disoriented.  It wouldn’t be odd to think that you were just catching a cold or the flu.  Unfortunately by ignoring these symptoms, you have probably just sealed your own fate!

Carbon monoxide comes from; gas space heaters, leaking chimneys and furnaces, wood stoves, gas water heaters, back-drafting furnaces, generators and other gasoline powered equipment, tobacco smoke, fireplaces, and automobile exhaust from attached garages.  It can also come from incomplete oxidation during combustion is gas ranges, if the flue is improperly sized, blocked, disconnected or is leaking, parking areas, worn or poorly adjusted and maintained combustion devices, such as boilers and furnaces, and gas or kerosene heaters as well.

Ignorantly I also thought that if I did recognize that I was exposed to this deadly gas that just getting myself to fresh air would make everything okay.  What a huge mistake that would be.

Carbon monoxide attaches itself to your blood cells, and the monoxide has to be forced out.  You have to use a hyperbaric oxygen chamber where you can pressurize 100% oxygen to several atmospheres of pressure, and force carbon monoxide off of the hemoglobin.

After hearing all of this, I now have a carbon alarm in the kitchen, another location in the home on the same level, upstairs and in the garage.  This is really something that you don’t want to ignore.  They can just plug into a wall socket and they’re not expensive.  However, by not getting this elementary device, the results can be devastating!

You can get more information @; http://www.carbonalarm.com/

There are many things to consider when fitting a fireplace in your home. A fireplace can be indoors or outdoors, enclosed or open, and simple or intricate. You will have to consult with professionals about heat output, fuel sources, flue liners and fitting. Advice from an interior designer as well will help you to get a fireplace that will not appear to overpower the place, and yet not appear insignificant either. Your choice maybe influenced by the existing structure of your house, or you may even consider some structural alterations just to get your desired fireplace.

Technology has produced several other types of fireplaces, unlike the conventional fuel-types in the past; this includes  electric, gas, gel fuel and traditional fireplaces. Fireplaces are usually found in living rooms, but with the development of vent-less fireplaces, stylish fireplaces can now be found decorating bedrooms, kitchens and even bathrooms. With many prefabricated fireplaces available in designs both classic and contemporary, you can have a wide selection of choices to fit both your tastes and budget.

Electric fireplaces are the simplest, as it only involves plugging to the nearest power outlet. Using light bulbs, the image of the fire is projected,  and the temperature can be perfectly controlled. Its one, fatal weakness is that it relies wholly on electricity. This type of fireplace will be completely useless should the power go out in a snowstorm or thunderstorm.

Gas fireplaces were once set to replace the traditional ones, offering a good alternative  and costing much less once the wood is taken into the account. But gas types are generally more expensive than electronic ones, and require a suitable gas flue to be installed. Their main advantage are reliability, as it does not depend on external power sources. .

Gel fuel fireplaces are more for their ambiance than use, as the heat produced by gel fuel fireplaces is low. Since gel fuel fireplaces burn alcohol, it does not give off smoke and is odourless; it is the perfect fireplace if chimneys aren’t viable.

The conventional open type fireplace is usually messy, expensive and difficult to maintain. Firewood, which is expensive and can be health-hazardous because of the carbon monoxide it gives off while burning, is needed. Ventilation is required for proper use. Homeowners may also tire of regularly cleaning and sweeping a woodstove flue.

Once you have your fireplace installed in your home, remember to undertake  regular cleaning and maintenance checks to ensure that it is working properly and poses no harm to your family or your home. It is also advisable to install a fire detector in the room where your fireplace is located to avoid the risk of fire.