How much creosote do you get in 1 year?

DougA said:

Just cleaned my Hearthstone Equinox after 1 yr of burning 24/7 in the winter. 8" flue and I got just over 1 quart of hard black diamonds. I actually expected a bit less and thought it would be more dust than small hard chunks.
Wondering what others get so that we can judge what is a 'normal range'.

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About a cup 1.5 maybe 2 cups of fine powder- over a year since last cleaning, nc30 , I had more ash ( light grey not creosote) built up on top of the baffle boards than what came out of the less than 20ft flue.

I'm trying to decide if I should freak out, change my fuel "mix" or just burn oil LOL (not happening).

For 2013/2014 I burned maybe 3/4 cord of crappy hardwood with a bunch of kiln dried (maybe 1/4 cord?) and probably half a ton of Orford compressed logs. Result, under a gallon. Sweep was OK with that.

The Orford compressed logs were great, easy light, hot and clean, but not terribly long-lasting. Not available after that, too bad.

For 2014/2015 I burned a cord of marginally seasoned hardwood, maybe 1/8 cord of kiln dried (for starting), and most of a ton of Logik-E compressed logs. Result, about 2 gallons. Sweep was concerned.

After seeing the "dirty chimney" thread, I'm not sure how worried I should be - the Logik-Es (4" round x 10" long) worked well beyond being hard to light and a little smoky. They're not cheap but they are readily available in my case, and they worked well for overnight and through-the-work-day burns.

My Avalon insert vents through about a 25' stainless lined flue in an outside-wall masonry chimney with an apparently good cap.

For 2015/2016 I have a cord of slightly less marginally seasoned wood and plan to use kiln-dried stuff to start it and a compressed wood product to supplement. Haven't tried them yet but homing in on Envi-8s as the right size to mix in. May use one Logik-E for overnights.

How worried should I be?

Thanks,
- Jeff

I said between 1 and 2 quarts but prolly closer to 1 and really not much shiny stuff, mostly dust and only a few stink bugs this year. Insulated liner and old gaskets so the stove was running pretty clean.

We got 2 gallons after a full year of burning half seasoned wood. This year should be better.
This is with a cook stove.

Just voted as less than a quart and I'm a 16/7 (I just made that up, ha) burner.

2 cups maybe give or take. not much at all...which I think is a good thing?

BrotherBart once told me,'it's not how much, but what kind...'.

My wood is not always the best since I don't have tons of room for multiple years, but I burn as clean as possible. 1/2 gallon of coffee grounds total for 2 cords, and I sweep twice a season.

We cleaned ours out Wed. after 2 seasons of use, last season saw some pretty heavy use but had fairly well seasoned wood. Cold weather hit early last season and I didn't clean it. It was our second season using the Century Insert with a 6" stainless liner. I burned a Chimney Sweep log in it at the beginning of last season, I did go on the roof and it had about an 1/16" to 1/8" of build up right at the top where the liner was exposed to the cold air at the beginning of last season. We bought a nylon Rutland brush and rods and cleaned and I have to say we were surprised at how little came out, maybe 2 pints probably less. I wasn't able to remove the liner from the top of the stove so I removed the front secondary air tube and the upper baffles and let it fall into the stove.

Before

After, not much difference.

All that came out.

First burn was today

Cleaned mine out last week and it was about a quart at most of fine dust for a season. No creosote caked on cap screen as with the old smoke dragon. Burned 3 1/2 chords...

This year I got maybe a cupful of gray dust, a little darker than normal ash. That was after going through 6-7 cords last winter, much of it burning very hot. I was amazed. With my previous stove , an old Better N Bens 901, I got a pail full of crunchy stuff every year after a similar amount of wood. There was a little crunch creosote on the cap, but not much there either.

DougA said:

Would Brother Bart be kind enough to explain?

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not to try and answer for him but i would guess that a gallon of fine brown powder is better to get out than a quart of the tar like stuff.

1. Brown / grey ash - the best result,
2. black rice coal diamonds - could do better,
3. chunky crunchy rocks - needs improvement,
4. shiny black tar that wont clean from the liner - rethink burning, maybe change to a different heat source,
5. 6" brush will not go down a 6" liner due to blockages - switch to a different heat source, wood heating is not for you.
That's how I judge things -

We get the dry dusty stuff. Mostly because we run the stove with the oven door open to pull more heat from the flue gasses.
I don't mind cleaning it out once in a while. It is a small price to pay when you can keep the house at 80 degrees for less than $100 a year.
It takes about 10 minutes to clean it out and we can even do it while the stove is going. I like that part because the draft sucks up all the dust.