Learn To Prevent Fire Damage!

By Author: Glen Kellogg
Total Articles: 20
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Learn to Prevent Fire Damage in the Kitchen
The kitchen turns out to be one of the most dangerous rooms in your home due to the fact that it contains many risks and a high potential for accidental fire.

Some of the difficultys come when you're using frying pans and deep fry pans. If you use a thermostat controlled fryer this is a fabulous way to impede fires.

Be cautious about fat and grease build ups on the stove because they can easily go up in flames.

The second problem is about heater and oven. The oven and the range need to be cleaned in a regular manner to prevent grease & food from catching a fire.

Be aware of when you cook to place handles to be away from the edge of the heater. You must also not wear long sleeves that will dangle from the heater and take fire.

Look when the heater is on and not just don't fail to remember to turn it off. Combustible fabrics like towels must be away from the gas or the electric range.

You must be cautious with combustible liquids like cleaning materials. Also look at the appliances.

The best rule is to use tools that have ...
... been tested and approved by a testing facility.

Be cautious not to overload electrical outlets & not just check for worn or broken wings regularly.

If there are any imperfections make sure that they are repaired. It's important to keep tools cords on the counter to impede them from being incidentally being pulled.

Look at the microwave ovens. An error is warmed that items heated in the microwave oven aren't as heated as the ones in the ordinary heater.

But you must know that even if the container does not heat the content heats.

Verify that all the vents are cleared of obstructions & there is sufficient air circulation around the microwave oven. Remember not at any time to pot aluminum foil in the microwave heater

The Dangers of Fireplaces
By Jim McDonald
The high cost of heating fuel and the fear of ballooning utility bills may temp you to use your homes built-in fireplace as a supplementary heat source for your home.

There can be many problems with primarily ornamental type fireplaces that can put your home and family at risk. For occasional use these fireplaces may be safe enough, but continual heavy use can cause design and material problems to put your safety on the line.

Building functional, relatively safe masonry fireplaces or to a lesser degree, installing factory made fireboxes and stacks has become a lost art. Not every mason knows how to do it properly or for other reasons it is just not done properly.

Most experts agree that a fireplace wastes more energy that it supplies. A roaring fire can draw three to four hundred cubic feet of air per minute; this air has to come from outside the home to feed the fire. It may be warm in front of the fire but cold air entering the home through cracks or around door seals will more than offset any gain produced by the heat from the fireplace.

Continual or even occasional use of a fireplace builds up creosote on the chimney liner. This is especially true with a chimney built with commonly used clay flue liner tiles. Creosote comes out of the burning wood as a gas and then condenses on the relatively cool flue tiles as a tar like substance.

Over a period of time, quite a bit of creosote can build up coating the inside of the chimney with a combustible material. This combustible material only has to reach ignition temperature to become a roaring un-controllable blowtorch. A pro-longed fire in a fireplace may bring the flue temperature up enough to cause ignition, and let me tell you, I speak from personal experience, that chimney fires are no fun and will scare the ever-loving daylights out of you and possibly burn your house down.

Many fireplace potential problems are not visible and can't be found no matter who inspects it. So take my advice and consider your fireplace un-safe for prolonged use. It is just not worth the risk.

Fireplace Chimneys
An essential part of both indoor and outdoor fireplaces, fireplace chimneys vent the hazardous and noxious gases, produced by the combustion of fuels, safely to the outside atmosphere. Fireplace chimneys regulate the flow of air and keep excessive heat from combustible materials that surround the fireplace.

Initially, fireplace chimneys were made of brick and mortar, bordered with fireproof tiles. But the newer models of metal are easy to install. Fireplace chimneys must be able to withstand the recurrent heating and cooling process of the fireplace and also the corrosive compounds produced after combustion.

Flue, containing the products of combustion, forms the inner and the most important layer of fireplace chimneys. In the case of wood burning fireplaces, a highly flammable substance called creosote is deposited on the flues, which blocks the passage of air through the system. A clean flue is crucial for the unhindered dispersal of combustion products.

Apart from flues, fireplace chimneys include chimney caps, chimney flashing, chimney dampers, chimney liners, and cleanout doors. Chimney caps usually made of copper, stainless steel or black steel act as the chimney cover that prevent downdrafts and protect the chimney against rain and animal invasions. Chimney Dampers close the fireplace chimneys when they are not in use, whereas Chimney flashings provide strength and waterproofing to the chimneys. Stainless steel, cast-in place (a thick layer of cement-like material), aluminum, and terracotta chimney liners create a smooth path for drafting and improve the performance of fireplace chimneys. The cleanout doors are metal doors, found at the base of the fireplace chimneys, which facilitate easy cleaning of ash pit.

The design and size of fireplace chimneys can affect the performance of fireplaces. A good diameter and height is needed for the proper combustion of fuels. Further, the fireplace chimneys must be tall enough to allow a smooth airflow.

In order to avoid the risk of chimney fires, the fireplace chimneys must be cleaned at least once in a year. This will also prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

Stainless steel resists corrosion, maintains it's strength at high temperatures and is easily maintained. For these reasons, it is used widely in items such as automotives, home and food processing products, as well as medical and health equipment. The most common types are: 304; 316; 316Ti; 316L; 29-4C.

316TI Stainless Steel
316TI is a stainless steel alloy with a small amount of titanium added. It's make-up allows it to resist acids and the stresses of hot and cold cycles. It can be used with solid fuels (wood, coal and pellet), gas and oil. It can withstand temperatures up to 2100 degrees.

316L Stainless Steel
316L chimney liner metal is commonly found in some thicker flexible chimney liners as well as in rigid chimney liners. The titanium is left out because of the added thickness of liners made from 316L stainless steel. 316L stainless steel is acceptable for use with coal, wood, gas or oil systems.

304L Stainless Steel
304L is best for chimneys venting a wood burning appliance. This alloy is commonly found in rigid chimney liner.

The most commonly specified austenitic (chromium-nickel-stainless class), it accounts for more than half of the stainless steel produced in the world. This grade withstands ordinary corrosion in architecture, is durable in typical food processing environments and resists most chemicals.

Al 29-4C Stainless Steel
This chimney liner metal alloy is used most often when relining a masonry chimney or clay lined chimney that will vent a modern high efficiency gas or oil furnace.

It is an alloy of stainless steel that is highly resistant to corrosion. It is used for relining flues where flue gases may contain highly corrosive elements. Being that most of the heat generated by such a high efficiency appliance goes into the home, the flue gas temperatures tend to be relatively low.

Low flue gas temperature keeps moisture in the flue gases from evaporating and being eliminated up the flue. The combination of moisture in the flue gas along with other chemicals that may be inducted into the flue from the surrounding environment, such as those from chemical cleaners and laundry supplies, can contribute to a very corrosive flue gas composition.
AL29-4C is made to resist such corrosive environments over a long period of time.

For more information call :Chimney Liner Depot (800) 943-1515
or go to http://www.chimneylinerdepot.com/
Glen Kellogg is a certified chimney professional that has single hanidly revolutionize the do it yourself chimney repair industry.