In recent years, gas logs have grown in popularity. They allow you to have a comfortable, warm fire in your living room without having to deal with cutting cord after cord of wood to fuel it. However, there are some misconceptions about the maintenance needed to keep your Minneapolis chimney and gas log fireplace operational and safe, especially in the cleaning department.
Is Cleaning Necessary?
If you have a traditional chimney and are considering having a gas log fireplace installed or your existing fireplace retrofitted for gas logs, you will need to have a new flue liner installed and probably a number of other upgrades made.
Beyond the changes, you should have your chimney cleaned on a regular basis. While it is true that there is less soot and debris from a straight gas fire that produces a blue flame, most gas logs are designed to burn yellow to simulate a real fire. A yellow flame is not as hot and therefore does not burn as completely as a blue flame.
For this reason, the fire produces gasses such a carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide as well as soot. Those gasses and soot will build up in your chimney over time and just like a traditional chimney, will soon require cleaning by a Minneapolis chimney sweep.
If you opt for a blue flame gas log fireplace, you can have your chimney cleaned far less frequently, though it is still recommended to have periodic inspections to ensure the flue liner remains clean.
Keeping Your Home Safe
While gas logs produce less soot and debris than wood fireplaces, they still burn incomplete and produce enough components that you need to have someone inspect your fireplace on a semi-regular basis. Even if the need for cleaning is less or not as frequent, you’ll find yourself glad you did it, if nothing else, for the peace of mind.
If you have any questions about gas log fireplaces or chimney cleaning, give 2nd Generation Chimneys a call!