A Complete Guide To Fireplace Safety In The Home

Fireplace Safety

There is a wide range of benefits to having an authentic, genuine, and impressive fireplace—not least the warm and inviting atmosphere provided by a real, burning fire (especially in the fall and winter months). 

However, as with most inventions that use either electricity, gas, or fire, there are some important points in terms of health and safety to consider before investing in and installing a fireplace in your property. With that being said, here is a complete guide to fireplace safety in the home. 

Safety Precautions Around The Home

While your stunning and authentic fireplace is burning away, it is strongly advisable, where possible, to always strive to keep a window slightly ajar in the same room. This will not affect the level of heat provided by the fire, yet will prevent the room from filling up quickly with potent and potentially harmful fumes and smoke. 

It is strongly advisable to install a carbon monoxide detector in your home prior to the fireplace installation and to regularly check that your detector is always functioning correctly. 

Educate your entire family—small children in particular—to the dangers of a burning fireplace to ensure everyone is as clued up as possible on what to do and what not to do when the fire is in operation. Ensure there are never newspapers, paperwork, or any other potential fuel within three meters of your fireplace to minimize the risk of the fire escaping into the room. 

The Fireplace Itself

Ideally, only use aged and completely dried-out pieces of wood to reduce the amount of soot that builds up in and around your chimney breast. The smaller the logs are, the quicker your fire will be produced and small logs will generate substantially less smoke than larger pieces of wood.

Particularly important if you have young children or free-raoming pets, a durable and wide fireguard is by far the best option when protecting you and your family from potential burns and other accidents. Additionally, ensure that you have a functional fire box and grate above the hearth of your fireplace to catch any flyaway ashes. 

When choosing which fireplace is best suited to your property, it is strongly advisable to do your research on fireplaces London and ensure you purchase from a professional and established company with an excellent reputation. In addition, be sure to hire a professional to thoroughly inspect and maintain your chimney and chimney breast every single year.

Finally, you should never, under any circumstances, leave a burning fire unattended, even for a short time, as a fire can start in just a few seconds and can quickly get out of control. Keep a fire extinguisher in the same room as your fireplace just in case of an incident such as this. 

Providing you follow these simple health and safety precautions, you will have many years of enjoying a warm, cozy, comfortable, and inviting home that is characterized by a beautiful and unique talking point of a fireplace—whatever type you choose.