In order to work safely and efficiently, your chimney system needs several important components, including a liner. Until the mid-20th century, chimney liners were not mandated under building codes, and if you own an older home, there is a chance your chimney is unlined. All Seasons Chimney can bring your chimney up to modern standards by installing a new chimney liner in the flue. An unlined chimney can be dangerous. In the 1940’s and the 1980’s, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) tested masonry chimneys for performance and safety reasons. They found that unlined chimneys were extremely unsafe. One of the researchers even compared building a chimney without a liner to committing a crime. Why is a chimney liner so important? The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) say this component of a chimney system is so essential for three of the functions it serves. We would like to tell you more about what chimney liners do.
Keep the combustible parts of your home safe from the extremely high temperatures produced in the fireplace and chimney.
Without a chimney liner, heat can transfer and spread to the wooden parts of your home that surround the chimney. This exposure to high temperatures could start a devastating house fire. The NBS found when they tested unlined chimneys, heat moved through the chimney so quickly that the surrounding woodwork was in flames within three and a half hours.
Protect the bricks and mortar of the chimney from the corrosive byproducts of combustion.
The NSB also found that if combustion gases penetrated the masonry materials of the chimney, this would reduce the life of the chimney because these acidic gases would eat away at the bricks and mortar joints on the interior of the chimney. This creates cracks and gaps that not only allow heat to transfer to the combustible parts of the home, but it also increases the risk that toxic gases like carbon monoxide will leak into your home through the voids created by the eroded bricks and mortar joints.
Give your heating appliance a correctly-sized flue.
When you upgrade your old masonry fireplace by installing a new fireplace insert, you typically need to have a new liner installed as well to provide a flue that matches the size of your new appliance. Most masonry chimneys are too large for these fireplace inserts, and this can cause condensation and draft problems. If your fireplace insert was not professionally installed, All Seasons Chimney can install a new stainless steel liner that will match the size of the insert.
Safety is not the only reason why a chimney liner is so important; it also makes your chimney work more efficiently. Contact us at All Seasons Chimney to find out which type of chimney liner is the best fit for your chimney and heating appliance.