Why fireplaces work and how best to build them, has been a topic of hot debate literally for centuries. From the first stone rings stacked around the campfire, to the modern factory built fireplaces with carefully engineered dimensions, there has been a steady evolution of design parameters to make sure they draw well and cast as much heat as possible.
Most of this evolution has been by trial and error, and some designs work much better than others. Simply put, fireplaces work mainly because hot air rises. When you start a fire, the air inside the chimney becomes warmer and less dense than the air outside the chimney, and consequently it starts to rise.
As the warm air rises, cooler air from the room flows into the firebox, fanning the fire, creating more heat in an ongoing cycle. There are also some pressure differentials produced as wind moves across the top of your chimney. Everybody eventually forgets to open the damper. Many dampers also cease to fully open because of water damage or soot buildup behind them on the smoke shelf.
Most of this evolution has been by trial and error, and some designs work much better than others. Simply put, fireplaces work mainly because hot air rises. When you start a fire, the air inside the chimney becomes warmer and less dense than the air outside the chimney, and consequently it starts to rise.
As the warm air rises, cooler air from the room flows into the firebox, fanning the fire, creating more heat in an ongoing cycle. There are also some pressure differentials produced as wind moves across the top of your chimney. Everybody eventually forgets to open the damper. Many dampers also cease to fully open because of water damage or soot buildup behind them on the smoke shelf.
Services
We are located in Joppa, Maryland and have been serving the Harford County, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City residential fireplace maintenance and cleaning needs for over 17 years. If you are in the Greater Baltimore area and your city or town is not shown above, please give us a call to see if you are in our service area.
We offer a wide variety of professional fireplace maintenance and cleaning services that include, regular cleaning, 5 point check, emergency repairs, replacement of gas logs, burn pans, thermo couples, gas pilots, burning ofifice, blower fans, gas valves, glass doors and panels. Gas stove maintenance and cleaning services also available.
If we find you need new parts while we are repairing or maintaining your fireplace or gas stove, we will quickly work on obtaining the correct part for your make and model. Some of the types of parts we find need replacing include gas valves, blower fans, gas logs, burn pans, thremo couples, gas pilots, burning ofifice, glass doors and panels.
Reviews (8)
Kristen Henry
Nov 22, 2021
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Scheduled for service this morning - spoke to the tech as he was sitting in his van outside my house. Our driveway had just been resurfaced and he wouldn't come in to perform service because he didn't want to walk across the wet grass with his tools. Not sure what makes him better than the other 5 contractors I've had inside the house this week (who walked across the front lawn to get in), but if I could offer zero stars on this review, I would. Unprofessional and rude at best.
Aaron D'Antoni
Oct 09, 2019
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Gary is a real, good, honest guy. He is rough around the edges but he cares deeply about his customer and the people that work for him. Kelly made everything happen...FAST! Brandan came out with smile. He showed me how to use our gas fireplace and left the area clean as when he got here. Luanne and I appreciate all the work HPS has provided.
Thank you Gary, Kelly and Brandan for you service.
Thank you Gary, Kelly and Brandan for you service.
Krg Gootz
Sep 03, 2018
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K. Pierce
Jun 16, 2018
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As with any company, our employees have limited resources. We have limited time, money, energy, and even patience. The ugly truth is there are some customers who will never be satisfied, no matter how far you bend over. No matter how much time you dedicate, these customers will still be unhappy with what you provide.There will always be nasty, abrasive, grumpy customers, especially if your business serves a large number of people. If you deal with 100 customers per week, there’s a good chance that ten of them will have woken up on the wrong side of the bed.
Donna McGuire
Jul 21, 2017
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Left telephone message at noon on Tuesday inquiring about maintenance appointment. Then tried calling about 4 more times during the course of the day-no answer. On Wednesday I called and Kelly answered the phone. I explained I had left a message the day before and had tried calling several times after that-no answer. She barked that "I am at my desk every day from 11-3 and I have at least 150 messages I am going through. What can I do for you?" Incredulous, I replied "with that attitude nothing" and I hung up. This is not the first time I've experienced her rudeness since we have had Hearth Product
Np Det
Jun 19, 2017
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Ashley Edwards
Sep 08, 2016
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Whoa! Called to schedule my renter's fireplace not working late September. They came out to service it fairly quickly, I admit that. Stated that it may not be the problem I thought it was but rather a simple cleaning was needed. "How nice" I thought, they actually attempted to save me time and expenses when my diagnosis might not even be the problem, "how nice".
Weeks later, I get the invoice, they did the cleaning but stated on the invoice "no spark at valve ". I call because, hey, my main reason for calling was to get it working and it was downhill from there!!!
The lady took 7 rings to answer
Weeks later, I get the invoice, they did the cleaning but stated on the invoice "no spark at valve ". I call because, hey, my main reason for calling was to get it working and it was downhill from there!!!
The lady took 7 rings to answer
Natalie Keegan
Aug 08, 2016
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I have never experienced such poor service! After an original call to schedule repair to our gas fireplace in early September, we had a tech come our on 9/27/16. He diagnosed the issue as a bad valve (pretty major part/repair). With trust I thanked him and asked if I needed to do anything or if the company would could be calling me when the part/s arrived to schedule a follow-up to do the repair. The tech assured me they would call. After 4 weeks of waiting I called them. I was told that they were waiting for me to "approve" ordering the parts, as they were costly. After extreme irritation with
