Wood-Burning Fireplace Safety Tips
Fireplaces are common in residential homes and frequently used during cold weather months. That’s a bit of a paradox given that fireplaces invite into a home the very things that the occupants are most concerned about — fire and carbon monoxide. But fireplaces can be safe, aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable, and energy savers when properly installed and used. We discuss how to safely use and enjoy your fireplace.
Don’t let the common and pleasing nature of fireplaces make you forget how dangerous they can be when used improperly or unsafely. When you light a fire, you’re allowing open flames inside your house. Those flames produce tremendous heat, smoke, and carbon dioxide, any of which can kill or severely injure people and pets. According to the National Fire Protection Association, fireplaces are the seventh-leading cause of all house fires in the United States after cooking, children playing with fire, smoking, heating appliances and equipment, electrical issues, and candles. There’s a reason why home insurance costs will increase after a fireplace is installed.
With that, let’s discuss tips to ensure that your fireplace can be used safely and enjoyably.
1) Purchase the right fireplace: Make sure you buy a fireplace with a good safety rating. Not all fireplaces are created equal and cheaper is certainly not always better. Do your research.
2) Have the fireplace correctly installed: Use a professional who is trained, certified, experienced, and insured to fit and install your fireplace. Again, do your research, never forgetting that you’re asking someone to install a feature that produces flames, smoke, high heat, and carbon monoxide.
3) Carefully choose the location for your fireplace: The fireplace must be located away from any flammable materials or items that could be damaged by heat, like rugs and carpets, furniture, curtains, and appliances.
4) Have a maintenance plan: Your fireplace must be maintained and inspected, same as your furnace and air conditioner. It’s especially important to ensure that the chimney’s clean and there aren’t any vent issues.
5) Always monitor fires: Never leave a fire unattended. Fully extinguish the flames if you’re leaving the house or room.
6) Install a carbon monoxide detector: Burning wood generates carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide is supposed to be vented outside. But if there’s an issue with the vents, or the fireplace hasn’t properly been maintained, carbon monoxide can enter the home instead. That’s why it’s important to install a carbon monoxide detector in the room with the fireplace.
7) Follow the manufacturer’s instructions: Don’t overload the fireplace with wood beyond what the manufacturer recommends. And don’t use the fireplace in a way that the manufacturer didn’t intend.
8) Have a fire extinguisher and smoke detector nearby: This is self explanatory.
9) Always use the fireplace screen: The fireplace screen prevents sparks and embers from drifting or rocketing out of the fireplace and on to flammable items. Just like with a burning cigarette, a single spark or ember can cause a fire that quickly grows to incinerate an entire house.
10) Don’t build too large of a fire: Don’t push things right to the edge of the manufacturer’s recommendations. Build a smaller fire that will burn out by the time you’re ready to leave the room for any reason, lightly adding to it if necessary. Large fires can burn too long and create a lot of smoke.