Dos & Don’ts Of Using Your Home Heating Appliance
Homeowners may go a long time in between using their heating appliances. With a lot on your mind, you may forget important safety measures when it comes to building a fire in your wood-burning fireplace or turning on the gas logs. Make sure you’re staying safe with proper maintenance, care, and use of your appliances.
Masonry Fireplace Dos:
- Do build only small, hot fires, and never overload the firebox.
- Do burn well-seasoned wood and keep it stored properly prior to use.
Masonry Fireplace Don’ts:
- Don’t burn cardboard or any kind of loose wrapping paper — no, not even at Christmas!
- Don’t burn pressure-treated lumber or any kind of trash.
Factory-built fireplace Dos:
- Do build small, hot fires.
- Do use well seasoned, dry wood.
- Do make sure you have a screen over top of the fireplace for safety reasons.
- Do shut the glass doors on your factory-built fireplace (if you have them) once the
fire is up and going.
Factory-built fireplace Don’ts:
- Don’t burn cardboard or paper in a factory-built fireplace.
- Don’t throw anything into a factory-built fireplace or burn pressure-treated lumber or any kind of trash.
Wood stove Dos:
- Do build small, hot fires.
- Do burn dry, well-seasoned wood.
Wood stove Don’ts:
- Don’t burn your wood stove very low or starve it of oxygen to make the wood last longer.
Gas log/gas insert/gas fireplace Dos:
- Do read your owner’s manual.
- Do have the system maintained annually.
- Do make sure you have a damper stop in place
Gas log/gas insert/gas fireplace Don’ts:
- Don’t operate your gas fireplace insert without the glass panel across the front in place.
- Don’t ever put any kind of wood, trash, paper, or anything else in your gas fireplace.
A Universal Don’t: Avoiding yearly chimney maintenance and inspections!