oohhbother questioned:
Our woodburning fireplace has no doors or mantle. This year, the front of the chimney above the firebox becomes very hot. The heat ends at the picture hanging 3 feet above, and the bricks behind that picture are cool. The heat stops at that line. The co2 alarm, which is in the hallway and not near the fireplace, does not register anything. No smoke is getting in the room.
Our woodburning fireplace has no doors or mantle. This year, the front of the chimney above the firebox becomes very hot. The heat ends at the picture hanging 3 feet above, and the bricks behind that picture are cool. The heat stops at that line. The co2 alarm, which is in the hallway and not near the fireplace, does not register anything. No smoke is getting in the room.
I don’t remember this happening in past years.
Floyd
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Dora
Do you have a damper door in the fireplace,maybe partly closed ??? Maybe its time for a chimney cleaning.
Travis
1st Place the CO detector no more than 2mtrs from th
George
Heat radiates out from the fireplace normally. As long as the smoke is not filling the room, you’re OK.
Victor
Your chimney needs cleaning.
Manuel
hire your local chimney cleaners, its a very disgusting job, PLUS if you have no thought how to do it properly you could really ruin alot of furniture/carpets/walls/floors/ everything…
Tom
if there is a damper on the chimney (there should be)and the hottest part of the chimney is below it ,the damper is closed to much or there is soot starting to build up on it and restricting the air flow.as per your first answerer needs to be cleaned,it can and will become a fire hazard.get someone in to check it out ,it will be wroth the money just to place your mind at simple.and possibly avoid a disaster.
Reginald
one other thing to check out stick your head in the fireplace, look all around where the front bricks meet with the damper all along the top of the inside of the fireplace if you see any breaks in the morter or bricks stop using it. you’ll probably burn your house down. as said above call in a chimney sweep he’ll might charge 100 to 150 dollars to clean the chimney which should be done yearly anyway, and have him take a peek at it.
Bradley
Is it possible you just never noticed it before? It is VERY normal for the face of the fireplace to get hot. Even nearly too hot to touch. Though it is a excellent thought to have a damper and/or a set of doors that’s probably not what is causing the heat.
As long as the fireplace is not smoking up the house you must be getting a excellent draft which means it’s probably not blocked like some previous people have suggested.
Regardless it’s hard for anyone here to tell if it’s “normal” without being there in person. Call a certified chimney sweep just to check things out and set your mind at ease. This will cost somewhere between $65-$200.
Better safe than sorry!