The primary job of a chimney service professional is to aid in the prevention of fires related to fireplaces, wood stoves, gas, oil and coal heating systems and the chimneys that serve them. Chimney sweeps install, clean and maintain these systems, evaluate their performance, prescribe changes to improve their performance, and educate the consumer about their safe and efficient operation.

100 Reasons Your Fireplace Doesn't Work

Why fireplaces work, and how best to build them, has been a topic of hot debate literally for centuries. From the first stone rings stacked around the campfire, to the modern factory built fireplaces with carefully engineered dimensions, there has been a steady evolution of design parameters to make sure they draw well and cast as much heat as possible. Most of this evolution has been by trial and error, and some designs work much better than others.

Simply put, fireplaces work mainly because hot air rises. When you start a fire, the air inside the chimney becomes warmer and less dense than the air outside the chimney, and consequently it starts to rise. As the warm air rises, cooler air from the room flows into the firebox, fanning the fire, creating more heat in an ongoing cycle. There are also some pressure differentials produced as wind moves across the top of your chimney.

There must be at least 100 reasons why your fireplace may not function properly. We will try to cover some of the basics here starting with the easy obvious solutions and working towards the more arcane. Please bear in mind this is a very simplified list of the more common reasons that fireplaces don't work A true understanding of fireplaces requires extensive knowledge of air flow patterns, pressure differentials, and actual fireplace construction techniques. If the information provided here does not help you solve the problem with your fireplace, consider hiring an experienced, certified chimney sweep in your area. Often the problem is obvious to someone with enough experience once they can acutally look over the entire situation.

• Is your damper fully open?
• Is your firewood green or wet from rain or snow?
• Is your chimney dirty?
• Is your chimney tall enough?
• Is your flue large enough for the fireplace opening?
• Is your chimney on the outside of the house?
• Is your home too tight?
• Your house can also be too loose!
• Is there a return air grill in the same room as the fireplace?
• The other 91 reasons your fireplace can smoke have to do mainly with design problems when the fireplace was built.