Chimney Flue

The modern day version of a chimney flue is a chamber in your fireplace that expels smoke and hot gases. When you start a fire in your fireplace the chimney flue is where it all goes, up and outside. It also reduces the risk of fire within the home, apartment or business. A home can have a single chimney and still have many flues. They come in many styles and sizes. They also require strict inspection and maintenance.

Basically, the chimney flue is a vent that prevents backup of gases or just plain smoke from getting back into the room and causing a lot of smoke. Flues are usually straight, providing the best draft. The amount of the draft is controlled by what is called a damper, which is just inside the chimney flue.

The fireplace chimney flue is usually made from a heat resistant material, due to the fact that the gases are become extremely hot. Brick, tile or ceramic are the best materials to use in the chimney flue as they are quite heat resistant. Some fireplaces do use other materials, such as certain metals for the chimney flue. Over time, chimney flues will accumulate what is called creosote. It is smoke that literally sticks to the walls of the flue and thus can cause a fire or black smoke if not cleaned properly.

Many people are not aware of how to clean the chimney flue. You can hire a chimney sweep, a person that comes in and will clean the chimney flue and also ensure there are no weakened conditions that might need to be fixed. Or you might want to save some money and check for creosote yourself. Just be careful and find out how to clean it. There are many online websites that can help you with that.

A quick way to check for the creosote in the chimney flue is shine a light near the smoke chamber, the damper and of course the firebox. Be sure to check the chimney flue and the exterior chimneys as well. If you see brown, black or dull gray soot, a black grainy build up; usually this can be removed with a very stiff chimney brush. The other build up that might look like a tar like coating or a shiny glazed coating on the flue is just about impossible to remove. Again, you can do this yourself, but to be safe and to know for sure your chimney flue is cleaned and safe, hire a chimney sweep. They know how and have the equipment to clean it right.

A chimney sweep might cost around one hundred to three hundred dollars, but it is well worth the price to have peace of mind your chimney flue is clean and safe. Be sure to check out the chimney sweeps, they must know all the codes of the state your in and can advise you on the chimney’s condition.

Have your chimney flue and fireplace inspected once a year or more.