Fireplace Safety Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

Most fireplace accidents are not dramatic. They are a chimney that was never looked at, a glass door a toddler touched, ashes in a paper bag, a carbon monoxide alarm that was never installed. Here is the list we give our own customers, by fuel, with the rule behind each item where there is one. None of it costs much; all of it is easier to do in September than in January.

For every fireplace, whatever it burns

• Have the chimney and the appliance inspected once a year. NFPA 211, the national standard for chimneys and vents, says a chimney should be inspected at least once a year and cleaned and repaired if the inspection finds it needs it. The yearly look is what catches a cracked flue tile, a missing cap or a blocked vent before the season starts. Our chimney page explains what the three inspection levels are.
• Carbon monoxide alarms, by law. Illinois requires at least one working carbon monoxide alarm within 15 feet of every room used for sleeping (the Carbon Monoxide Alarm Detector Act). A fireplace is a fuel-burning appliance; the alarm is the backstop if a vent ever fails. Test it when you test the smoke alarms.
• Smoke alarms on every floor. The state’s Smoke Detector Act asks for an alarm within 15 feet of each bedroom and one on every story, and battery-only alarms sold today are the sealed long-life kind. Put a fresh look at them on the same autumn afternoon as the fireplace.
• Keep three feet clear. Furniture, rugs, curtains, a Christmas tree, a basket of newspapers: three feet from the front of any fireplace or stove, always.
• Know where the shutoff is. For gas, the valve on the supply line and the key or switch that turns the unit off; for wood, the damper and the doors. If you ever smell gas, leave the house and call Nicor or 911 from outside before you call anyone else.

Wood-burning fireplaces and stoves

• Burn dry wood only. The EPA’s Burn Wise guidance is plain: wood burns best below 20 percent moisture, which means seasoning it for at least six months. Wet wood smolders, and a smoldering fire is what lays creosote in the flue.
• Never burn trash, treated wood or driftwood. Cardboard, plastics, glossy paper, painted or pressure-treated lumber, plywood and ocean driftwood all put things into the flue and the room that a fire should not.
• Open the damper before you light, close it when the fire is cold. A closed damper sends smoke into the room; an open one after the fire is out sends your heat up the chimney all night.
• Use the screen or the doors. Sparks travel. Glass doors stay open while the fire burns hard and close as it dies down; a mesh screen stays across an open fire.
• Ashes go in a metal can with a lid, outside, away from the house. Ash stays hot for days. Never a paper bag, a plastic bin or the garage.
• Know the signs of a chimney fire — a roar, a rumble, dense smoke, flames or sparks at the cap. Get everyone out, call 911, and do not use the fireplace again until it has been inspected.
• A cap and a spark arrestor keep rain, animals and embers where they belong. If the top of your chimney is open masonry, it needs one.

Gas fireplaces, inserts and log sets

• The glass is hot. The front glass of a direct-vent gas fireplace runs far hotter than a stove top, and stays hot after the flame is off. Since 1 January 2015 new units whose glass runs hot ship with a protective barrier screen, under an industry standard developed with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If your fireplace is older and has no barrier, the makers sell one for most models and we fit them. A barrier is the single most important thing in a house with small children.
• Vented gas logs keep the damper open. A vented log set burns like a wood fire for exhaust purposes; its damper is clamped open and stays open. Vent-free sets have their own rules on room size and hours of use, written on the unit.
• A yearly service. Pilot, thermocouple or ignition module, burner ports, the fan, the glass seal and the vent are checked and cleaned once a year, before the season. A gas fireplace that lights slowly, burns yellow and sooty, or smells is telling you to book it.
• Nothing on the glass or in the firebox. No decorations on the front, no candles or ornaments in the firebox, no towels on the mantel to dry.
• Remote and wall-switch batteries. A dead receiver battery is the most common reason a gas fireplace will not light in October. Change them with the alarm batteries.

Electric fireplaces

• Plug it straight into the wall. The heater in an electric fireplace draws a full circuit’s worth of power; it belongs on its own outlet, never on an extension cord or a power strip.
• Keep the intake and outlet clear. Dust, drapes and pushed-back furniture block the heater’s airflow and trip its cutout.
• Heat off, flame on is fine for a summer evening; the flame effect uses very little power on its own.

Children and pets

Three things cover almost everything: a barrier screen on gas glass, a hearth gate or a fixed screen for wood, and a habit — the fireplace is switched on by an adult and the remote lives out of reach. Teach the word “hot” early and mean it.

Questions we get about fireplace safety

How often should a chimney be cleaned?

Inspected every year, cleaned when the inspection finds enough creosote or debris to matter — for a wood fireplace that is often every year, for a gas appliance vent far less often, but the yearly look is what tells you. The chimney cleaning guide goes into it.

Is it safe to leave a gas fireplace on overnight?

A direct-vent gas fireplace is a sealed appliance designed to run for hours, and many people run one all evening. We would not leave any fireplace running while everyone sleeps, and a vent-free unit is written for limited hours in a room of a stated size — follow the plate on the unit.

Do I need a carbon monoxide alarm if my fireplace is electric?

Illinois requires one in any home with fuel-burning appliances or an attached garage, so almost every house needs one regardless of the fireplace. It costs little, and it is the one alarm that tells you about a problem you cannot smell.

What should I do if I smell gas near the fireplace?

Do not light anything and do not flip switches. Leave the house, and call Nicor at 888-642-6748 or 911 from outside. Call us after that; the gas company comes first.

A yearly visit does most of this for you

Our technicians service gas, wood and pellet fireplaces, inserts and stoves of every make, and sweep and inspect chimneys, across Downers Grove and the western suburbs. Book a service through the repair and service page or a chimney inspection through the chimney page, or call (630) 241-1919.

Sources

• NFPA 211, Standard for Chimneys, Fireplaces, Vents, and Solid Fuel-Burning Appliances — annual inspection — nfpa.org.
• Illinois Carbon Monoxide Alarm Detector Act (430 ILCS 135) and Smoke Detector Act (425 ILCS 60) — ilga.gov.
• U.S. EPA, Burn Wise: best burn practices (moisture under 20 percent; what never to burn) — epa.gov/burnwise.
• Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association: the glass-front safety barrier standard in force since 1 January 2015 — hpba.org.