Clogged Chimney Chicago
This picture depicts an unclogged chimney. Do you see the clear hole? That’s daylight and I notice no clay tile or chimney liner.

Clogged chimneys are common when older atmospheric furnaces and boilers are used. Such as Standard furnaces and boilers whereas the flue gases vent with steel pipe to the chimney. We’ve seen an uptick in chimney collapses in the past few years.

Does anyone want to know? I’ll explain. As the government continues to push for more efficient furnaces and boilers to cut down on fossil fuel usage. The new boilers and furnaces no longer use standing pilot systems.

Most newly installed furnaces and boilers have ignition systems. These ignition systems ignite the fossil fuel whether it’s natural gas or propane during heat requirement.  The requirement for heat is provided by the thermostat.

Common causes of clogged chimneys are when the internal liners of clay tiles or bricks shale off. Eventually the brick and shale builds up at the bottom of the chimney and continues upwards until you have a blocked chimney issue.

Symptoms of a clog in the chimney are: Beeping or alarming carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide is a killer, pay attention! Carbon build up such as black soot on or around burners and burner surface area of the furnace or boiler.

Furnace or boiler burners shut down after a few minutes of operation.

There are also other causes that mimic that same symptom, such as clogged furnace filters, actual cracks in heat exchangers or boiler blocks.

Clogged or defective pressure switches if applicable, a defective limit switch and failing flame sensor.

Pay attention to your chimney by inspecting the exterior portion of the chimney. Any of the above

$50 OFF COUPON

Schedule HVAC Service

Call or email to talk to a technician. Landlords & Tenants, please fill out this form to request HVAC work on tenant properties.