Don’t forget to clean your chimney.

Regardless of how diligent you are in keeping your home clean, it is easy to overlook maintenance in certain areas of your home, including the roof!

So, if you haven’t already prepared for the winter, now is the time to add the often-neglected chimney stack to your cleaning list!

A ventilation structure designed to carry off smoke should always be swept regularly.

So why should you regularly clean your chimney?

You should always have your chimney regularly cleaned as a safety precaution. In the last 5 years, the leading factor contributing to home heating fires (roughly 25%) was failure to clean solid-fuelled heating equipment and chimneys. Creosote, which is a waste product that builds up inside chimneys, is what tends to cause these fires.

In addition to preventing fires, cleaning your chimney will also help prevent blockages that can result in carbon monoxide poisoning.

How often should you clean your chimney?

Both HETAS and SIA (Stove Industry Alliance) recommend getting your chimney professionally cleaned and inspected once a year as a minimum.

Regardless of the chimney type, it is important you have your chimney swept at least once time a year. If you use an oil or wood burning stove, HETAS recommends that you should clean those twice a year, depending on your usage.

Whilst you should hire a chimney sweep to professionally clean and inspect, there are best practices that you can follow to help maintain your chimney year-round.

To do this, SIA recommends that you keep your firebox clean, your damper open before your usage and installing a cowl to prevent debris and small animals from entering your chimney and home.

She also suggests making sure your chimney has stainless steel liner to keep it up to industry standards.