Chimney Fire Safety – Wensleydale Chimney Sweeping

Chimney fires are preventable by getting your chimney swept regularly and using the appliance in the correct way with the correct fuel (always refer to the manufactures instruction manual). The recommended minimum for getting a flue swept is every 12 months, most insurance companies would expect to see proof of an annual sweep by a competent person. If you burn house coal, wood or peat daily then every 6 months or less maybe required!

Burning wet wood or slumbering the fire or a combination of the two will cause a build up of tar and creosote, this is highly flammable and dangerous. If your stove is connected to a stainless steel flexi liner or twin wall liner the build up or tar and creosote can render it useless and is almost impossible to be swept clean, often resulting in the liner needing to be replaced. The classic mistake is loading the stove with logs, closing the air down and going to bed in the expectation that fire will heat the house all night. It won’t! A small amount of heat will be sent to the room, the flue will cool, the wood will smoke and smoulder and combustible contaminants will condense in the flue.

Getting a fire hot quickly is the key to a warm flue and optimum combustion and flue efficiency. I often see a small fire made with kindling and a huge log placed on top causing the fire to slow, excess smoke and the flue temperature to fall, this is bad! Always remember the key to efficiency is fuel to air ratio, starting the fire with dry kindling and small logs no bigger that 10cm x 10cm stacked crossways will get a good mix of fuel air. Once the fire/flue is up to temperature (stove pipe thermometer can help) the primary air (below grate air) can be reduced to a trickle or closed completely and the burn can then be controlled by the secondary air control (air wash). Once the fire and flue are at optimum temperature more fuel can be added. All stoves are different, some will require a small amount of primary air once the optimum temperature has been reached. If you are struggling refer to the manufacturers manual for guidance, talk to your chimney sweep or local stove shop for advice.

Collecting wood, remember if the wood is laying on the floor no matter how dry it may seem it will contain moisture and often more than 20%. Therefore get used to cutting and stacking the wood for at least 6 months (covered at the top with the sides open off the ground) this will result in wood with 20% moisture or less. Remember wet would causes, chimney fires, ruins liners and burns relatively cold with little heat being emitted. If you light the fire and can see or hear moisture/ steam coming out of the ends of the wood it is too wet!

https://www.northyorksfire.gov.uk/communitysafety/home-safety/chimey_fires