During the cooler months of the year, having a fireplace, either in the form of a woodburning stove, multifuel stove, an open fire, or any similar features, can be incredibly beneficial. Not only do these features provide a huge amount of warmth, they also add value to properties and make great focal points in any room.
As great as these fire-related features are, they are not without their drawbacks. To begin with, they require a fair amount of maintenance, and can be pretty dusty, so you’ll need to stay on top of your cleaning. As well as that, they also pose safety risks, which is why there are different rules, regs, and building codes that must be adhered to.
Now, depending on which state you live in, you may or may not be required to have a chimney liner installed. Even if you are not legally required to get one fitted, however, many experts agree that doing so is well worth it.
Fitting a chimney liner offers a wide range of benefits, but it doesn’t come free. To help you get a better understanding of the work involved, here’s a look at the benefits and costs of installing a chimney liner.
Reduced Chance of Fire
If you have an open fire source of any kind, keeping your chimney well maintained and in full working order is vital for a whole host of different reasons. One of which is the fact that doing so will reduce your risk of fire.
One of the best ways of reducing your risk of a chimney fire is to install a chimney liner. Chimney liners help to form a protective barrier between the chimney, the fire, and things surrounding it. It helps to ensure that the chimney and the walls don’t get too hot, which would ordinarily increase the risk of fire.
Any woodwork in the home for example, would be prone to fire if it were to get too hot. Having your chimney lined means that that isn’t a risk.
Chimney Liners are Easier to Maintain
As a responsible fireplace owner, it’s your responsibility to get your chimney swept regularly. By regularly, we mean at least once per year, ideally twice if you’re burning coal, unseasoned fuel, or fuel with high moisture contents.
Having your chimney swept regularly prevents the buildup of creosote, which could potentially ignite if it became too hot, thereby resulting in a chimney fire. Chimney fires can be devastating, not only posing a serious fire risk, but also resulting in a great deal of smoke damage.
Sweeping bricks and mortar chimneys is much harder than sweeping ones which are lined. Brick and mortar chimneys are rough and uneven, whereas chimney liners are smooth. This means it is much easier and much quicker to sweep a lined chimney.
Chimney Liners are Safer
Not only do chimney liners help you to reduce creosote buildup, thereby lowering your risk of a chimney fire, they also help to prevent the chimney and surrounding features from overheating and potentially catching fire. In terms of fire prevention, you couldn’t really ask for more.
When talking about the benefits and costs of installing a chimney liner, however, you can’t overlook the other safety benefits that they provide. Chimney liners help your chimney to work more efficiently. They allow harmful smoke and toxic carbon monoxide fumes to be safely vented from your home, rather than seeping inside.
Carbon monoxide, for example, is incredibly dangerous. Not only can carbon monoxide be toxic, but carbon monoxide poisoning can be fatal. Worst of all, is the fact that it is virtually odorless so is very difficult to detect. This is why it’s so important to have a working carbon monoxide detector in close proximity to your fire. It’s also why it’s so important to have a lined chimney, so as to allow these dangerous fumes to be vented safely from your home.
Chimney Liners Increase the Lifespan of your Chimney
Another great benefit of having a chimney liner installed on the interior of your chimney is because it helps protect it and increase its lifespan.
Chimney liners help to protect the brickwork and masonry joints from damage caused by the heat of the fire and the compounds found in the smoke, which could corrode and erode away the chimney overtime.
The exterior of your chimney is constantly exposed to the elements and is therefore vulnerable to harmful weather, pests, animals, and insects overtime, so the last thing you want is for the interior of your chimney to become damaged as well.
Chimney liners help to keep the interior of your chimney protected and in full working order, which in turn helps to prolong its life. This means less maintenance work, and less money to spend. Talk about a win-win situation.
Improved Fire Efficiency
There’s nothing worse when it’s cold, wet, and miserable outside, than a fire that is refusing to draw and is smoldering away, giving off barely any heat at all. If this scenario sounds familiar to you, you may need to install a chimney liner.
Chimney liners can help improve the efficiency of a fire and help improve its draw and air circulation. This in turn can help the fire to burn hotter and more effectively. On top of that, chimney liners also help to distribute and retain heat more efficiently, which again, is exactly what you want.
How Much Does It Cost to Install a Chimney Liner?
It’s impossible to provide an exact figure when talking about how much it costs to install a chimney liner, simply because there are so many variables to consider.
Things like the size of the chimney, the length and width, its condition, what type of fire you have, what kind of design and material you want, whether you plan on installing yourself or paying a professional, can all influence the cost.
With that said, we can provide a general overview of what sort of costs you can expect when installing a chimney liner. On the lower end of the scale, it could cost as little as $1,500 for a more basic liner. On the higher end, though, this could be upwards of $7,000. The average however, is somewhere around $2,500.