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A wood burning fireplace adds a wonderful warmth and ambiance to any home, and can be enjoyed by the whole family. Many families avoid buying a home that includes a fireplace, or avoid using their beautiful and fully functional fireplace for fear of damaging their house or causing a fire. As long as the fireplace is designed to burn wood and is correctly installed, there is little danger in burning a fire in it, especially if you use the many accessories and tools designed to make it even safer.

One of the first and most important steps to keeping your fireplace safe is a regular cleaning and inspection, and if needed, repair. But other than regular chimney repair, accessories like protective chimney covers, bird screens, and spark arrestors can keep the risk of fire or damage to a minimum. Protective chimney covers, also known as rain caps, help keep water, debris, and animals from entering your chimney. Some homeowners are tempted to make simply mesh covers for their chimney flues, but they can become clogged with debris or easily knocked off.

When these are clogged, smoke and dangerous carbon monoxide can back up into the home. This can damage your home’s interior and cause health problems. By using a correctly designed chimney cover for your specific style of chimney, you can rest assured that no animals, branches, leaves, or water is going to ruin your chimney. They are also made from high quality materials such as galvanized steel, which will hold up to years of heavy heat and weather conditions.

Bird screens are also a type of protective chimney cap that are specifically designed to keep birds and small debris from entering the chimney. Fireplace repair companies may also recommend the use of a chimney spark arrestor. This chimney cap features a metal roof over the mesh of the cap, which traps any sparks or other burning materials that may make it all the way out of the chimney. These sparks can land on the roof or the yard and start fires.

A damper is another important piece of fireplace safety accessories. It is attached to the inside of the flue, and can be sealed close with a lever to seal your chimney when it is not in use. This keeps drafts from entering the home, and heated air from escaping. Most square or rectangular shaped chimneys require a similarly shaped damper.

The Lyemance top is a very popular design, with a silicon gasket for the tightest seal, while the Lock Top is another popular damper that can fit almost any properly designed chimney cap or configuration. For round chimneys, such as the pipes coming from free standing wood burning fireplaces, a spider damper is need. It is a specially designed round damper plate that correctly seals round flues. By updated the damper in your fireplace, you can save money on your heating bills by using a damper with a silicon gasket, fully eliminating any heat loss through your chimney.