Our Company Blog

The Importance of Reviewing Your Chimney Sweep

You know the importance of having your chimney cleaned and inspected each year, but after your sweeping and inspection is complete, there is one more step you should take: Reviewing your chimney sweep! Taking the time to review your chimney sweep’s service is valuable for your neighbors, you and the chimney sweep.

Why Review Your Chimney Sweep

These days, a great deal of business communication takes place online. Homeowners look for companies to hire via the internet. In addition, businesses review their online footprint for feedback. With that in mind, business reviews can be helpful in a variety of ways, including:

• Helping your neighbors to make good hiring decisions. The primary reason to leave honest reviews of your chimney sweep is that it can help your neighbors when it is their turn to hire a chimney sweep. Your honest review can help your neighbors evaluate your chimney sweeping experience and get a feeling about which chimney sweep is right for them. It can also help them to hire a reputable company and avoid a potential chimney sweeping scam.
• Getting you better service. Your honest online review can help your chimney sweep to evaluate their services. A balanced review can help sweeps determine what they are doing right and what they can improve upon. That means your online review could lead to even better service the next time you need to have your chimney swept!
• Supporting a small business. The best way for companies to get new business is through word of mouth. In the digital age, online reviews are word of mouth and provide the best testimony businesses can get as to the quality of their service. If you are happy with your chimney sweep, providing an online review can be a helpful way to support your chimney sweep’s business.

How To Leave a Valuable Business Review

Now that you know the importance of reviewing your chimney sweep, it’s important that you know how to leave a helpful review. A well-written review will inform potential customers and provide valuable feedback to your chimney sweep. A good business review:

• Is not written when upset. If you’ve had bad service, it can be tempting to hit the internet and write a scathing review. That doesn’t really help anyone. Angry reviews usually don’t provide valuable insight to potential customers, and they don’t help you to get a better outcome from the business. If you are left angry by a company, contact them personally to provide an opportunity to resolve the situation.
• Paints a thorough picture. Provide all necessary details that could provide context for your service. What day and time was your appointment? Was your appointment during the busy season? Did your sweep arrive on time? Was he courteous and thorough? Did he answer all of your questions? Did he leave the house clean? You should provide a balanced review of what you appreciated and what you think could have been improved upon.
• It must be free from errors. The review will not be taken seriously if it is riddled with errors. Then take a moment to look for spelling errors and typos and to double-check facts. Reviewing your chimney sweep can take a few moments of your time, but providing a quality review helps potential customers, you and your chimney sweep.

Preventing Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

The temperatures drop and we flip on our furnaces. Tossing clothes in our gas dryers and cooking on gas stove tops. We light fires in our fireplaces or heating stoves and heat our water in gas-fueled water heaters. In addition, we drive cars with combustion engines.

These may be unremarkable facts of our daily lives, but we should be paying attention to all of these things. The combustion appliances that fill our homes create carbon monoxide. What happens if a system isn’t well maintained, malfunctions, or is improperly used? It puts us and our families in danger of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Most people know the dangers of carbon monoxide and hope to protect their families from the dangers of the gas. Nevertheless, an estimated 200 people or more die each year and thousands more are sickened by carbon monoxide in their homes. There are steps you should be taking to keep you and your family safe from the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Those steps include:

• Performing annual maintenance and cleaning of gas- and oil-burning appliances.
  If your gas- or oil-fueled appliances or their vents fail, carbon monoxide can build up rapidly within your home. For that reason, appliances that require combustion should be cleaned and inspected at least once per year. That includes furnaces, fireplaces, heating stoves, gas-fueled clothing dryers and hot water heaters.
• Keeping vents clear.
  Heating and dryer vents can become obstructed for a variety of reasons. Snow can pile high around outdoor vents in the winter. Animals can nest within unprotected vents. Contractors or do-it-yourself-ers can inadvertently cover vents during renovations. Check vents regularly and after major weather events to make sure they are free to exhaust your appliances.
• Never operate combustion appliances in non-ventilated areas.
  Cars should never be left running in garages, even with the doors open. Gas generators should never be run within the home. In addition, outdoor appliances like camp stoves, portable heaters, and grills should never be operated indoors.

Install a carbon monoxide detector!

Install carbon monoxide detectors on each floor of your home and near all sleeping areas. Check your carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they are operating properly at least once a month. Replace batteries at least twice per year. (You can do this when daylight savings time switches, along with changing the batteries in your smoke detectors.)

Always make sure all family members know what to do, should the carbon monoxide detectors sound. Exit the home quickly and call 911. Do not go back into your home until the source of the carbon monoxide has been located and the leak has been fixed.

Carbon monoxide is a legitimate threat. Consequently, it can sicken or even kill. However, take precautions! Maintain your home appliances and install and maintain carbon monoxide detectors. In doing this, you can help to keep your family safe from carbon monoxide poisoning.