Do Not Burn These Items in Your Fireplace!

Fireplaces provide homeowners with a perfect spot to enjoy a warm and cozy evening with family and friends during the chilly weather. The inviting, warm glow and relaxing ambiance created by a fireplace are hard to resist during winters, and these household fixtures quickly become the centerpiece of a gathering. 

Wood-burning fireplaces should only burn dry, seasoned firewood pellets or manufactured fire logs to generate heat. However, several homeowners fail to consider what they are throwing in their fireplaces, and the fixture often turns into a household incinerator. Burning certain items in the fireplace is hazardous and can turn into a disaster. Throwing non-wood substances can lead to poisoning, corrosion, and even chimney fires.

Please keep reading to discover the items that should never make their way into the fireplace for a safer winter experience.

Plastic or household trash

Any item made of plastic, including bubble wraps, toys, plastic cups, and plates, should not end up in the fireplace. These products release toxic chemicals and hazardous fumes, like sulfur dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and heavy metals that are dangerous for the family's health and harm the environment. Household trash can also produce emissions that are dangerous to breathe. 

Christmas trees or evergreen decorations

During the holiday season, homeowners put leftover Christmas trees, wreaths, and other evergreen decorations into the fireplace. Dry evergreens contain a high level of resins that burn quickly and can pop and rise through the chimney, leading to potentially dangerous chimney fires.

Cardboard or colored paper

Cardboards contain chemicals and often give off toxic fumes into the air when burned. Similarly, printed or colored paper products, including magazines, wrapping paper, and food boxes, release corrosive and carcinogenic poisonous gases as the ink contains harmful chemicals. Paper and cardboard boxes also burn quickly and lead to tall flames that ignite the creosote inside the chimney.

Treated or unseasoned wood

Never use stained, painted, glued, or pressure-treated wood. Older wood treated with toxic chemicals like arsenate and the painted one containing lead is harmful to human health. Even modern treated woods have chemicals, and burning will release them into the air. These chemicals can also cause significant harm to your fireplace.

Coal or charcoal

Never burn coal or charcoal in a wood-burning fireplace. These products burn faster and hotter and exceed the safe temperature levels the fireplace is designed to handle. It also releases deadly carbon monoxide gas in higher quantities in the house than wood.

Fire accelerants

Avoid using fire starters like kerosene, gasoline, or lighter fluid to kickstart fire in the fireplace. These accelerants are highly flammable, and your fireplace can not manage dangerous flare-ups of that magnitude. Such substances can cause extremely high temperatures, turning the fireplace into a safety hazard and causing significant damage to the fixture.

Preserve your fireplace and keep your home safe

Homeowners should resist the temptation to toss these materials into the hearth. It will keep the home safe from fire, protect the family's health, and ensure the longevity of the fireplace. The best way to enjoy a great fire is to burn dry wood. Contact a local chimney and fireplace service if you have questions about your fireplace or access regular chimney inspection and cleaning.

Sweeps N Ladders is a North Texas chimney and roofing repair service providing chimney & fireplace restorations, brick and mortar restoration, chimney caps, chase covers, and more. We provide fireplace inspection and repair, fireplace remodeling, chimney inspection and sweeping, and dryer vent cleaning. We are locally owned and operated family business and are licensed, bonded, and insured. Call us today at 469-812-5662.