Through contact with professional personnel, experience-based issues have been discussed from a fire technical point of view. This involves issues such as:
- Incorrect handling of the fire place and user habits
- Sweeping and energy efficiency

A literature review has been carried out on combustion products produced under different combustion conditions. Furthermore, it has been identified that the part of the combustion products that pose the greatest risk of starting chimney fires is the organic carbon particles. These are produced at a low combustion temperature or during low-oxygen combustion. For obtaining optimal combustion from a fire technical perspective, correct handling of the fire place and good user habits are important.

Based on the limited existing research, it is difficult to provide a conclusion on whether sweeping of fireplaces will have a fire preventive effect. In order to determine this, it is necessary to perform research focusing on this topic, preferably in the form of physical tests and investigations of old heating systems.

The study is funded by the Norwegian Building Authority (DiBK) and the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB).

You may find the full report (pdf) in Norwegian with English summary here.