That persistent haze is back on my fireplace glass! What gives? In this episode, DirtFarmer Jay shows you how to diagnose what the problem is, and what you can do about it.
Gas-fired stoves and fireplaces are a great addition to the home. Over time, it’s very common for a haze to appear on the interior of the fireplace/stove glass. GEEK ALERT! There’s actually a scientific reason for it. When your stove or fireplace first “fires up”, the firebox is quite cool and is not anywhere the optimum operating temperature that is needed for the gas or propane to burn completely. You may see a flash of condensation form on the glass when the flame first starts. This is normal and is simply the moisture in the gas/fuel that is not burned off immediately so it forms on the glass momentarily. As the firebox heats up, this disappears - at least for a time.
However, there are compounds in the condensation that over time with repeated occurrences can form haze on the glass. If the glass is cleaned every season, there’s a very good chance you’ll be able to get the glass to be clear again, using a product specifically for this purpose. Our favorite is Rutland® Glass Cleaning Cream. We have found that typical glass cleaning solutions, such as WIndex®, or vinegar-based cleaning solutions look like they are cleaning it until the glass dries completely. Then there it is again - that persistent haze!
Please allow us to digress for a moment. Here’s something that many people DON’T KNOW. The glass that is found in gas-fired stoves and fireplaces is much LESS related to the window and tempered glass most of us are familiar with and much MORE related to ceramics and ceramic glass cookware such as Pyrex® or CorningWare®.
High-temperature bora-silicate ceramic glass is designed to be able to withstand very high temperatures on one side of the glass and much lower temperatures on the room-facing side. To have that wide of a range of temperature in a distance of approximately 3/16” (6mm) is quite a feat! Said another way, this type of glass expands and contracts very little (it has a low thermal coefficient) with extreme heat and is remarkably strong.
Back to haze. If the haze on the inside of the glass is actually a white residue (the by-product of incomplete combustion), then it’s likely you can clean it off with a slightly abrasive cleaning cream - like Rutland®’s. But, if it won’t come off, then the glass is actually etched. This micro-pitting and resulting opaqueness happen because the sulfur compounds in the gas residues and water mix and form sulphuric acid. When this lies on the glass surface, it will attack (etch) it.
When that happens, you have two choices: 1.) Live with it. 2.) Replace it.
If you do replace it, DO NOT replace it with ANY type of window glass, including tempered safety glass. It will shatter. It MUST be replaced with ceramic high-temperature glass. You should expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $300 for the piece you need. Borosilicate glass can not be cut using typical glass cutting tools. Specialty equipment is required to do this, which also factors into the higher price for this glass compared to window type glasses.
An online source for custom-sized glass replacements is www.woodstove-fireplaceglass.com/. There are other sources as well, both from your local fireplace supply store and other online retailers as well.
Can you remove the haze from your stove or fireplace glass? Maybe. But either way, maintain or replace, with what you’ve learned, you can JUST DO IT YOURSELF!
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9 сен 2024
