Your gas fireplace can fill your house with a lot of water vapor when it is burning. Water vapor is a significant consequence of burning natural gas. Your fireplace’s roaring fire consumes a lot of interior air, which needs to be replaced with clean outdoor air.
However, you might be wondering “Should I open a window when using fireplace?”
WarmthPedia is here to help you enjoy a warm fire safely on a chilly winter day. The answer is given in this WarmthPedia article, and then the effects of fireplace wood burning are discussed.
Should I Open a Window When Using Fireplace?
WarmthPedia’s short answer is YES!
It’s a good idea to open a window when using any gas device, especially if you get headaches, dizziness, or tightness in your chest. These are carbon monoxide intoxication symptoms and they can be dangerous, so caution and safety should be used.
There should be a window open near the fireplace. By doing this, the excess air can be pulled out of your home through the window and into the chimney draft.
It doesn’t have to be fully opened. This also serves as a safety precaution to stop back-drafting from your furnace or water heater into an airtight home.
Why Should I Open a Window When Using Fireplace?
Your gas fireplace can fill your house with a lot of water vapor when it’s burning. Water vapor is a significant byproduct of burning natural gas. Thus, opening a window can help bring in oxygen and fresh air. I think your home’s excessive dampness is dangerous to your health!
Just open a little bit of the window nearest to your fireplace so that it can get the air it needs to heat the place (Rather than allowing your central heating system to work overtime to warm up the rest of your home).
Here are three reasons to open a window when using a fireplace.
1. Deal with Smokes
Anyone who has used a fireplace will tell you how terrifying it may be to start a fire only to have the place fill with smoke moments later:
One of the potential causes of this incident is that the chimney ignited nearby debris, such as leaves, acorns, soot, twigs, etc. To have your fireplace inspected regularly, make a chimney sweep schedule. A window that is opened will prevent odorous smoke from filling the place.
2. Prevent Carbon Monoxide Build-Up
The “Silent Killer” or CO gas has no taste, no smell, and is invisible. When using a fireplace, CO could potentially build inside your house, especially if your chimney is clogged with debris.
An open window can help release the gas in newer homes, which were undoubtedly built using airtight construction methods. In other words, gases, including CO, cannot escape.
3. Improve Air Flow Inside the Room
Open a window just a little bit to help your home’s furnace lessen more heat. This means that even with your heating system on and the fireplace burning, your entire home will still be warmed.
Open exterior air vents that are installed in the same room as your open fireplace to make sure that a fire has access to as much fresh air as possible.
Watch this video below to know more about this issue.
Additional Tips
We have additional tips that can improve how you use your fireplace, and how great it can serve to keeping the room warm.
Those tips include educating your kids on the importance of keeping their hands off the fireplace, regardless of the fact that a window is opened or not. As some children may find it reasonable to assume an open window means the fireplace isn’t hot, but that’s not the case every time.
If your fireplace isn’t an electric one but a wood or a gas fireplace, you should always keep those fireplaces in good repair, and check for problems whenever the winter comes close. Repairing worn and damaged parts is an essential part of keeping them functioning at their best and highest level.
Summary
Your question, “Should I open a window when using fireplace?” has now been answered. Just one or two inches of window opening will do; you don’t need to open it completely.
With this guide helping you through such a complicated matter, you can still visit the fireplace category inside our website and attend to similar matters, as we’ve tackled many similar problems to “Should I open a window when using fireplace”.
By lighting a fire in an open fireplace that gets continuous fresh air from the outside of your home, you may be able to increase the draft on your fireplace. Opening any vents or windows is another method to prevent a fireplace from absorbing warmer air from other parts of your house.
Do you have any questions concerning this issue? Leave your comments in WarmthPedia’s comments section below, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.