Good-working and adequate fireplace chimney is a vitally important part of your fireplace system.
There are two main functions which is being fulfilled by a wood burning fireplace chimney:
When you think about buying a chimney you should consider following issues:
Chimney usually is not a visible part of a wood burning fireplace like mantel so it’s sometimes underlooked. It’s not right, because, even though chimney has no decorative functions, it is essential to the fire itself. You’ll need your wood burning fireplace chimney to be cleaned at least once in a several months, preferably not rarer than in a year, and cleaning should be managed by a professional. This action will ensure that huge amounts of poisonous gases and materials like creosote are removed and also that other types of debris are cleaned. Of course, if you put your fireplace in use quite often, you should consider having fireplace cleaned within less amount of time. There is also always a matter of accidents, for example, such as a fire in your fireplace chimney. If this happens you should firstly shut the fireplace door, close the inlets of air, get your family, your pets and yourself safe outside, and call the emergency fire brigade. If you are capable of that, you should try to spray the fireplace chimney with water until emergency service arrive.
Dan Brik, author of woodburnfireplace.com