Hi everybody I am Robert from Northline Express. Today we are going to explain why you would want to line your chimney with a chimney liner. We have a fireplace here and we are going to use that as an example. Quite often if you have had a chimney fire in a masonry chimney the inside of your chimney may become damaged. Or perhaps you have a fireplace like this that is smoking really badly.
You can use a chimney liner to reline your chimney and size the opening of your fireplace properly to your chimney size because quite often people that make a masonry fireplace do not really size it properly and you end up with a lot of smoke.
What we are going to do is install a fireplace insert and that is another reason you would want a chimney liner. It is now a nationwide law that you have to run a liner from the back of a fireplace insert all the way to the top of your chimney. It used to be in the old days that you would just take a fireplace insert, put a facing around it, insulate the back of the facing, shove it in a fireplace opening and you would have called it good. The problem with that was that the smoke would naturally come out of the top of the insert and the chimney would draw that smoke up but you end up with a lot of creosote buildup right in the smoke shelf area and because it is not sized properly for a fireplace insert it could have too much of a draft or not enough of a draft and again cause smoking issues. The other big concern in of course is creosote buildup. Now because you have all of your smoke going up into a cool masonry chimney that creosote builds on the walls of the chimney and begins to reduce the size of the opening. With that buildup you can end up having a chimney fire. These are the reasons for making it a national law that a chimney liner is to be used with the installation of a fireplace insert.
Adding a chimney liner when installing a fireplace insert is really much better for the homeowner as well because you have a direct connection and it is easier to clean. There are many benefits to installing a chimney liner system, but let’s get into the details of the 3 main benefits a chimney liner will provide for you and your home.
Safety
Chimney flue tiles are often damaged by corrosive gasses in your chimney. These corrosive gasses erode the masonry materials in your chimney leaving behind gaps which could allow dangerous carbon monoxide or sparks from the fire to enter into your home. Installing a stainless steel liner will prevent your chimney from allowing those noxious gasses from entering your home. It will also prevent heat and sparks from reaching combustible materials inside your home, which can create a fire. Often times installing a chimney liner will also put an end to a smoking fireplace or & smelly down drafts.
Improved Appliance Performance
Having a good draft will significantly improve the efficiency of your fuel through more complete combustion. A stainless steel liner will improve your chimneys draft because hotter gasses draw better than colder gasses.
Reduce Dangerous Creosote Build Up
Excess creosote buildup in chimneys is the cause for approximately 15,000 house fires each year. When smoke in a chimney is allowed to cool below 250 degrees which it causes the combustion gasses to condense, combine, & solidify forming the tar like substance creosote. Because insulated chimney liners keep the combustion gasses hotter all the way up and out your chimney, they allow for less condensation and most importantly less build up of dangerous creosote.
In our next videos we are going to talk about “What type of chimney liner you should buy” and “How to install a chimney liner.” Thank you for watching.