Scranton chimney service: R&B Chimney Services, LLC for area code 570

Chimneys and homes in the 570 area

The 570/272 territory covers northeastern and north central Pennsylvania, from Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in the Wyoming Valley to the Poconos, Stroudsburg, Hazleton and Williamsport. It is an old housing stock: of about 740,000 homes and apartments, roughly 66% were built before 1980 and 29% before 1940, and the median home dates from the 1960s. About 70% are single-family detached houses.

Scranton, the seat of Lackawanna County, had 76,328 people at the 2020 census, the most of any city in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is part of the Wyoming Valley metro area, a corridor of five cities and more than 40 boroughs with about 574,000 residents.

Winters are long and cold. NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for Wilkes-Barre International Airport, PA show about 5,740 heating degree days a year, a January average of 28.0°F, and about 45.1 inches of snow. Repeated freezing and thawing is hard on brick, mortar and chimney crowns, which is why crown repair, repointing and chimney caps come up so often on older homes.

Census figures put utility gas as the main heating fuel in about 32% of occupied homes and electricity in about 26%. Wood is the main heat in about 4.5%; most fireplaces here are used for comfort rather than everyday heat. Oil furnaces and boilers vent through a chimney too, and their flues need checking as well. The area falls in IECC climate zone 5A. Whatever the fuel, NFPA 211, the national standard for chimneys, fireplaces and vents, calls for a yearly inspection.

Sources: Census ACS 2018–2022 (B25034, B25040, B25024); NOAA Climate Normals 1991–2020, Wilkes-Barre International Airport, PA (USW00014777); IECC 2021 climate zones by county (PNNL-33270); NFPA 211; Wikipedia: Scranton, Pennsylvania.