How Much Does A Chimney Sweep Cost In NH?
A chimney sweep generally costs between $250 and $425 in NH. The final price can vary depending on how many chimney flues need to be cleaned.
With that being said, the chimney inspection is usually what you are paying the most for. The chimney inspection, which every reputable NH chimney sweeping company performs at every chimney sweeping appointment, can take between an hour and an hour and a half. Actually cleaning the chimney takes less than 30 minutes in most cases.
The reason that all reputable chimney sweeps perform a chimney inspection with every chimney cleaning is because they need to both protect their own liabilities, and also be able to give you their professional opinion on the safety of the unit they are inspecting and cleaning. If chimney sweeps just went around cleaning chimneys without first performing a chimney inspection, they would be opening themselves up to potential lawsuits.
Cleaning a chimney is but a very small part of a chimney sweep's job, and having a clean chimney is but a very small part of having a safe chimney.
What else goes into having a safe chimney you may ask?
There are many potential safety defects that a certified chimney sweep will look for when trying to determine the overall usability of your chimney, fireplace or appliance. Some of these defects include clearances and the condition of the chimney lining system.
Clearances are one of the overall most important safety factors when it comes to a chimney, fireplace or other fuel burning appliance in NH. Improper clearances can quickly lead to a process known as pyrolysis. Pyrolysis takes place when the temperature of a combustible material is slightly raised over a consistent period of time. This is a safety hazard because slightly raising the temperature of a combustible material consistently will eventually lead to the ignition temperature of the combustible material lowering. For example, if you have wooden trim around your fireplace opening that is consistently heated up to over 200 degrees due to that trim being too close to your fireplace opening, the ignition temperature on that trim could lower to 200 degrees from around 1000 degrees. Thus, clearances may not start a structure fire overnight, but it is the job of the chimney sweep to their best to ensure that it will not happen at any point in time.
Chimney liners are also thoroughly inspected during a chimney sweeping in NH. The reason chimney liners are inspected is because if a chimney liner can not contain the products of combustion, there is a higher risk of chimney related structure fires taking place, along with a higher risk of carbon monoxide related problems. A certified, NH chimney sweep will inspect a chimney liner during a chimney cleaning appointment for that reason.
To sum it all up, the average price of a NH chimney sweep is between $250 and $425 for the cleaning and inspection of one chimney flue, but what you are paying for more than the cleaning is the opinion of a professional and certified chimney sweep who is trained in NH fire standards.
