Snow & Fire

Well, I've finally broken down. It has gotten pretty damn cold down here. It even snowed the other day. Not just a flurry either. The stuff actually stuck to the yards, not the roads, but it lied down for a little while. It only lasted overnight but it was more than enough for me.

Anyway, the snow isn't the point here, however, it is the cause of the conversation.

Since fall I've been meaning to get a chimney sweep into the house to take care of our flues. Well, that hasn't yet happened. Technically, we've got 3 of them to be concerned about. We've got the furnace flue, the dryer exhaust tube and the chimney flue. Since we've moved in, the dryer has been functioning (though I suspect that I need to get that cleaned by spring); the furnace is working without a hitch, and well, the fireplace had yet to be employed.

The fireplace is the one I've had the most concern about. I think it has more to do with a shady usage description from the previous owners of the house more than anything. The fireplace has an exposed flame that is truly a potential hazard if the flue isn't clean. All of the commercials about chimney fires and everything has had me greatly concerned. I was told by the previous owners that the fireplace will support either gas or real wood. If it has just been used with gas, the carbon deposits don't bother me as much, however, wood will leave creosote deposits. Creosote is the element present in the chimney that is most liable for fires.

For this reason and this reason alone, I've been very fearful about using said appliance. However, snow coming down and the largest room in my house is freezing. I didn't want to turn up the furnace, so I stared to do some research into my firebox. I was sifting around thru the "sand" and stuff below the logs. I was unable to locate any evidence of cellulose present in the box. This seemed to indicate to me that wood either has not been used or has been long since cleaned up. I don't want to speculate on this too much.

The next concern I've had about using the fireplace was the lack of knowledge with its use. I've never had a fireplace, real or otherwise, before. Therefore, since it is a potentially dangerous appliance both to my house and my health, I had some research to complete. I had questions regarding concepts like the following:

• What is this stuff in the bottom of the box for?
• What is the suggested orientation of the logs?
• How far open should the damper/flue be?
• Why do I have 2 leavers?

So, I hit the online research tool that I know best, Google. I was able to find out that my gas logs are of the vented variety. This really isn't relevant, but it did help me find an owners/user manual online and understand how they work. However, armed with a manual (not for mine, but one none the less), I was able to determine what was safe, what do to with that shit in the firebox.

So, now armed with the usage understanding, it was time to see if the thing worked or not. I got the "sand" setup, logs setup, lit a stick and hit the gas (mind you it didn't really go in that order or end this way exactly, but I thougth I'd spare my stupidity for another time). It was a beautiful site. It caught the light and has been working beautifully for the past two nights.

Angel was all surprised because I lit it. She was at work while I was doing all of this. She came home to a dark house, but when she came in, she quickly noticed why. Of course the 20 questions followed, but I had expected that. She knew how adamant I was about not using it until it was cleaned, but the weather saw to it to expedite the time line with the use of it.

So, in summary, I love the fire, it might be inefficient, but it is effective. It looks nice and warms the room. I would recommend having one to anyone. I will further quantify this message with leather gloves will NOT adequately protect you from the heat of a hot log. No matter how quick you are, the heat will travel quicker. That is all I'm going to say about that.