The days have passed when most houses in city boroughs like Brooklyn had open fireplaces in some of their rooms and burnt solid fuel (like wood or coal) to keep the rooms warm and, possibly, provide their hot water supply. When all those open fires were burning, there was a big need for chimneys to remove all the smoke from the building. Likewise, many businesses would also have been burning solid fuel for heating and/or part of their process.
With all that smoke going up in the air, it is no wonder that thick fogs were more common back then. In addition, these open fires did not totally burn their fuel and solid particulates would be carried up the chimney along with the smoke. Some particulates fully escaped from the top of the chimney while others would adhere to the sides of the flue to form accumulations of soot. In those days, Chimney Cleaning In Brooklyn was all about removing that soot.
It Is Different Today
Today’s homes and businesses get their heat more efficiently and the enforcement of various acts of clean air legislation have both contributed to reducing soot in the atmosphere. Home heating is almost totally achieved by some sort of central heating system most likely generated by oil or gas fired furnaces.
Open fires are no longer standard although many still like to have one for decorative or “comfort” reasons. However, these are more likely to be specialized devices rather than a simple open hearth – in fact, the logs and/or coals might even be non-flammable imitations and the flames come from gas burners hidden below.
Chimney Design
Most early chimneys were basically a square or rectangular vertical space constructed of brick or stone that ran up from the hearth to above the rooftop. Multiple fireplaces might have their chimneys diverted within the structure so as to combine in a single outlet. For these (single or multiple) Chimney Cleaning In Brooklyn would be carried out using brushes that had extendable rods to push them all the way from the fireplace to the top of the chimney. Some large chimneys were of a size that a (small) person or boy could actually climb up inside them.
For furnaces and modern fireplaces, the chimney is more like the stovepipe on an old fashioned pot bellied stove. In a building where chimneys already exist, the metal flue duct or pipe can be run up inside the old chimney. Unfortunately, even today’s “clean” fuels do produce residues that will collect on the inside of the flue so we still need regular Chimney Cleaning In Brooklyn.
