Hartford chimney sweep and repair: Integrity Home & Chimney for area code 860

What chimneys face in the 860/959 area

Geographically, 860/959 covers most of Connecticut outside the southwest corner: Hartford and its suburbs, Middletown and the lower Connecticut River valley, New London and the eastern shoreline, the Quiet Corner in the northeast and the Litchfield Hills in the northwest. It is an old housing stock: of about 773,000 homes and apartments, roughly 67% were built before 1980 and 20% before 1940, and the median home dates from the 1960s. About 62% are single-family detached houses.

Hartford is the capital of Connecticut and the seat of Hartford County. The city had 121,054 people at the 2020 census and is the core of Greater Hartford, a metro area of about 1.17 million residents.

Heating season runs long. NOAA's 1991–2020 normals for Hartford Bradley International Airport, CT show about 5,883 heating degree days a year, a January average of 27.1°F, and about 51.7 inches of snow. Those freeze-thaw cycles slowly break down masonry. A cracked crown, spalling brick or a missing cap lets water in, and water is what does the most damage to a chimney.

By Census count, about 42% of households heat mainly with heating oil and about 32% with utility gas. Wood is the main heat in about 2.3%; most fireplaces here are used for comfort rather than everyday heat. An oil-fired boiler or furnace also needs a sound, clean flue, since soot and scale build up over a heating season. It sits in IECC climate zone 5A. Wood, gas or oil, the NFPA 211 standard says chimneys, fireplaces and vents should be inspected once a year.

Sources: Census ACS 2018–2022 (B25034, B25040, B25024); NOAA Climate Normals 1991–2020, Hartford Bradley International Airport, CT (USW00014740); IECC 2021 climate zones by county (PNNL-33270); NFPA 211; Wikipedia: Hartford, Connecticut.