Our Company Blog

Oil and Gas Appliances: Relining

Oil and gas appliances are some of the most efficient on the market. They burn cleanly and use almost all of the heat produced to heat the home. This makes it even more important for a chimney liner to be installed, and for it to be properly sized. If the liner is too big, and the fire exhaust is not hot enough to push the toxins up the large chimney space, it settles in the chimney. The chimney walls will then become coated in these toxins, soot, and creosote, damaging the liner, and essentially allowing carbon monoxide to penetrate the masonry, entering the home. Carbon monoxide is a highly toxic poison that can cause a host of health problems, organ failure, and essentially death.

Your Older Chimney

Older oil and gas appliances were not operating at such a high efficiency when they were installed, so their chimney flues were larger. This is the main reason why a chimney inspection is required any time you install new hardware. The newer appliances are highly efficient and require much smaller flue liners. So when you wish to change appliances, fuel type, or make other changes to the chimney system, you should schedule a level 2 inspection with a certified chimney sweep. Your sweep can tell you if the flue liner is correctly sized for the capacity of your new appliance.

Our chimney sweeps at Chief Chimney Services are experienced and trained in chimney inspections, as well as installation of gas and oil appliance, and relining. We encourage homeowners to schedule inspections and chimney sweeps before burning season so that repairs and relining can be completed before winter. It’s our goal to keep your family and home safe and warm this winter. This starts with the liner.

Your New Liner

The best choice for a new chimney liner is the stainless steel liner. Most often, especially in old chimneys, it is lined with clay tile. Your chimney sweep will remove this tile and reline the chimney with an appropriately-sized metal liner. Stainless steel is the best option as it’s the longest lasting, and works with any fuel type. However, aluminum is a cheaper option often chosen for that reason, but aluminum is only compatible with gas appliances, and it isn’t as durable as stainless steel.

Chief Chimney Services can install a stainless steel or cast-in-place liner designed specifically for an oil-fired appliance. We choose these specific liners due to their durability and years of safe use with gas and oil appliances.

Are you concerned your liner is damaged, sized-incorrectly, or simply interested in an update to a longer-lasting liner? Schedule an appointment online, give us a call at 631-863-2460!

Proper Maintenance of an Oil-Fired Appliance

Nearly half of fall has already passed by with the arrival of November. Winter is just a few weeks away, and the weather is here to prove it. Long gone are hot afternoons full of shorts and sandals. Instead, most people do not leave the house without bundling up in a jacket and scarf, and everyone has the impending winter season on their minds. Homeowners especially should at least begin turning on their heating appliances to ensure they are in working order, and for those who rely on oil-fired appliances, now is the time to schedule annual servicing. Oil-fired heating systems can consist of boilers with hot water distribution or furnaces with forced air distribution. Both setups contain finely tuned mechanisms that require regular maintenance to keep them working safely and efficiently.

An oil-fired appliance functions by spraying a fine mist of fuel oil into a combustion chamber along with a steady flow of air, and igniting the combination with a spark. The resulting flame creates hot air that heats up the heat exchanger walls before flowing out through the exhaust stack. The heat exchanger walls transfer the heat to the distribution medium (either water or air), which is then forced throughout the home. Boilers utilize this mechanism with the distribution medium of water, and the heated water travels throughout the water pipes in the home to radiate heat in the various rooms. A furnace also uses this mechanism, but it heats up air instead of water, which is blown through ducts to the rest of the house.

Whether the system uses water or air does not affect the fact that the oil-fired appliance will still need servicing. A number of problems can arise with the oil system that requires a professional eye to find and repair. One such problem is an inefficient mixture of air and oil entering the combustion chamber, which can cost extra money every winter in surplus fuel burned. Different situations can cause this problem, such as an old or clogged burner nozzle, an improperly calibrated fuel pump, and incorrectly adjusted air volume and draft controls. While these fixes are simple, they should only be made by a professional to ensure they are done correctly.

Another common issue with oil-fired appliances is failure to create a flame. This can be a result of a variety of problems, and fixing it immediately is crucial to avoid explosions or poisoning. The combustion chamber could be leaking, the stack control may not be functioning properly, or the ignition electrodes might be dirty or broken. A professional can spot and repair these issues quickly and effectively.

If your home utilizes an oil-fired appliance for heating, call to schedule its annual servicing before the temperatures drop any farther. For those living in Suffolk County, New York, you can contact Chief Chimney Services, Inc. for a professional consultation.