Chimney creosote question.

I think the creosote is the result of not burning your fire hot enough, a common mistake during shoulder season. I think burning a hotter but shorter fire should help.

tomahawk said:

The readings were on a newly cut piece, but they were done on some of the outer pieces in the stack - may dig deeper in to see what the % is farther in.

The temps were low intentionally so as to not over heat the house. Beginning of the year we're in that range of being cold enough to need a fire but not cold enough to really crank it open. The large amounts of alder probably don't help much either.

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Can you please explain that in bold above?

The reason for asking is to determine for sure how you are measuring with the MM. You don't want a freshly cut piece, you need a freshly split piece. A huge difference there. Also it pays to stay with the grain rather than cross grain.

Seeing a chimney this way after 2 months, I would automatically blame it on the wood. So if the wood is not ready and then your burn it on low rather than a hot fire, that is a sure prescription for creosote like you have.

This can be a positive thing for you. Over in The Wood Shed we frequently tell folks to get on the 3 year plan. That is, get 3 years ahead on your wood supply. If you do that (count time only after being split and stacked) and stack it right, top cover only, you will be amazed how much better that wood stove operates and one of the best parts is that you will actually burn less wood but get more heat.

Good luck.