Fireplace Chimney
Fireplaces
A fireplace is what turns a house into a home, and every fireplace needs a fireplace chimney. Remember that all work performed on a fireplace and chimney should be completed by a professional. Fireplaces and chimneys contain very hot air and smoke which needs to be properly separated from combustible home materials. There are construction rules in place which forbids the placement of hot fireplace materials within certain ranges of combustible building material.
A fireplace in your home is capable of producing large amounts of heat, which may lower energy costs. If you are choosing a fireplace, there are other important factors to consider besides the fireplace chimney beauty or heating bills alone. It is also important, for energy reasons, to maximize and conserve the heat production. A great looking fireplace is not always very useful in a cold room.
The efficiency rating of the fireplace is very important to take into consideration. This rating is calculated by the heat the fireplace produces. Fireplaces usually use the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating. The higher the AFUE, the more heat efficient the fireplace is considered. Make sure that when you are comparing fireplaces that the numbers for the ratings of each fireplace are on the same scale. You can improve your fireplaces heat efficiency by twenty five percent or more if you do a few little things, you can improve the efficiency of your fireplace and get a lot more heat out of your fireplace, while enjoying the beauty of a wood burning fireplace which is in your house. If you do not have a lot of working knowledge of fireplaces, then you should understand why improving the level of heat that your fireplace puts out is very important to the overall joy of having a fireplace in your house. If you are not accustomed to burning real wood in fireplaces, then there it would be wise to read up on some safety guidlines.
In choosing a fireplace you need to look at which one will be the
best fit for your home. It depends on the model type and the space you
have for the fireplace in your home. There are four main types of
fireplaces which are inserts, direct vent, vent free, and full masonry fireplaces.
The chimney vent is actually what runs up the fireplace chimney. Non vented fireplaces do not have a chimney connected to the fireplace. Generally most of the gas models can be changed so that they can run on
propane, and many fireplaces that are wood burning could have a gas jet
added to it to add to the desired heat.
Once you have chosen the right fireplace for your home in terms of heating capability, you
can now decide on the style. Normally, it is good design for the fireplace to match the style of the room you wish to place it in. But there are probably
thousands of styles of fireplaces so there is bound to be one that meets
your needs.
Fireplaces are always a great addition to all homes as well as a very attractive part of your house.
Fireplace Chimneys
Fireplace chimneys are the long passage ways connected to the top of the fireplace where the smoke travels from the fireplace out of the home. An attractive fireplace chimney can greatly improve the beauty of a home's exterior. A well crafted stone or brick chimney is often a popular choice.
From the exterior of the house is where you will be able to see the chimney. There are many different styles to fireplace chimneys.
Most masonry fireplaces will have a fireplace chimney with either stone or brick on the exterior. It is possible however for fireplace inserts or vented fireplaces to have chimneys with stone or brick. Non vented fireplaces do not have a chimney at all. Masonry fireplace chimneys are constructed using concrete block and clay flu.
When constructing a new fireplace chimney it is very important to have a strong footing. The entire weight of the new fireplace chimney will be sitting on this footing. A fireplace chimney footing is constructed using concrete. The following are step by step instructions on how to build a fireplace chimney.
1. Dig own at least three feet or below the frost line. If the fireplace chimney is against the house, you should dig down to the level of the house footing. This depth may be up to ten feet down.
2. Pour twelve inches thick of concrete at least six inches wider on all sides of the entire area of where the fireplace chimney will sit. Level the concrete and wait at least one day for the concrete to dry before you begin to put concrete block.
3. Using concrete block, construct your fireplace chimney up to the level of your first fireplace floor.
Vented fireplaces and inserts will sometimes have a chimney exterior of brick or stone, but most commonly will have wood siding of some sort.
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