2 Chimney Fires resulting in house fires on the news Tonight. How's your chimney?

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pen

pen

There are some who call me...mod.
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Aug 2, 2007
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N.E. Penna
Of course, you never get the background while watching the news to find out what conspired to create a devastating house fire from a chimney fire.

So I say err on the side of caution, inspect that chimney, and if in any doubt, run the brush through it. This time of year I will be watching a chimney fire on the news at least 3 times a week. My theory is there can't be a catastrophic fire if there isn't any fuel for one. Keep that chimney even cleaner than necessary and your chances of being on the news are greatly reduced.

Just a reminder that you won't ever clean that chimney too often and regret it.

pen
 
How often do you clean yours. I burned a couple loads using some pretty green wood for the first couple days but am using dry stuff now and was thinking I should do it sooner than what is called for. Mine wont be hard to do in a one story 6" straight shot .
 
When I simply had an exterior masonry chimney I cleaned it once per month. I could have gotten away with once mid season and once at the end, but why risk it?

Now that I have the chimney lined w/ a SS flex liner that is insulated, I have even less build up but still plan on cleaning it 3x this season. I just did it at Christmas, I'll do it again in a another 3 or 4 weeks, then at the end of the season.

However, you may need a cleaning after a week of burning depending on the fuel going into the stove and your practices regarding the stove's operation.

pen
 
I have an exterior chimney with clay pipe. I clean mine once a month at least, especially burning in an old VC Vigilant. Just did mine last night- stove is cruising tonight and ready for the sub zero nights this weekend!
 
Cleaned mine a few weeks ago. Last time was last Feb or March of last year. Didn't look too bad for 5 months of fires. The top 2ft section and the cap were the worst of the 17ft I'm running. I've got a better handle on my burning since last year so I've been itching to get up there and take a peek. Way too much snow up there and more on the way tommorrow so that'll have to wait a little.
 
Cleaned my 20 ft of 6 inch pipe. I had burned for about 7 weeks, 24/7. I got aboiut 3 quarts of fine brownish sand-like debris in the bucket. I believe that is a good residue?? Pic is of the 30 degree elbow, 1 of 2 to offset the ridge of the roof. I plan to eliminate these and cut the roof away. The elbows had more debris than the straight pipe.
 

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Planning on doing mine tomorrow - Sooteater just arrived yesterday. This will be the first time cleaning from bottom to top.
 
I've been up to check mine about 4 times this winter.
The flue is always fine, even the portion out the roof. The cap however, is always beginning to develop a crust of creosote.
Kind of as an afterthought, about 3 days ago, since the ladder was still up, I decided to check. More buildup than usual, and it had been a couple weeks since the last check.
I burn hot enough that the flue stays clean, but the cap still clogs up some.
I will continue to check quite often to get the optimal exhaust flow and get rid of the crud. Mine is easy to get to, so.....
 
PapaDave said:
I've been up to check mine about 4 times this winter.
The flue is always fine, even the portion out the roof. The cap however, is always beginning to develop a crust of creosote.
Kind of as an afterthought, about 3 days ago, since the ladder was still up, I decided to check. More buildup than usual, and it had been a couple weeks since the last check.
I burn hot enough that the flue stays clean, but the cap still clogs up some.
I will continue to check quite often to get the optimal exhaust flow and get rid of the crud. Mine is easy to get to, so.....
Click to expand...

Curious

Was it colder than usual that last time? Im guessing the cap builds up because of the instant cool down in your northern MI weather. If it was even colder still this last time, that would validate my guess and explain the unusual build up
This is the one subject that im paranoid about
 
pen said:
Of course, you never get the background while watching the news to find out what conspired to create a devastating house fire from a chimney fire.

So I say err on the side of caution, inspect that chimney, and if in any doubt, run the brush through it. This time of year I will be watching a chimney fire on the news at least 3 times a week. My theory is there can't be a catastrophic fire if there isn't any fuel for one. Keep that chimney even cleaner than necessary and your chances of being on the news are greatly reduced.

Just a reminder that you won't ever clean that chimney too often and regret it.
pen
Click to expand...


Couldn't say it any better . . . +1 bazillion.
 
DonNC said:
PapaDave said:
I've been up to check mine about 4 times this winter.
The flue is always fine, even the portion out the roof. The cap however, is always beginning to develop a crust of creosote.
Kind of as an afterthought, about 3 days ago, since the ladder was still up, I decided to check. More buildup than usual, and it had been a couple weeks since the last check.
I burn hot enough that the flue stays clean, but the cap still clogs up some.
I will continue to check quite often to get the optimal exhaust flow and get rid of the crud. Mine is easy to get to, so.....
Click to expand...

Curious

Was it colder than usual that last time? Im guessing the cap builds up because of the instant cool down in your northern MI weather. If it was even colder still this last time, that would validate my guess and explain the unusual build up
This is the one subject that im paranoid about
Click to expand...

Actually Don, good guess. I've noticed that I get more buildup when it gets colder, but only in the cap.
I burn hot at LEAST once a day when it's really cold like this just to keep the house warm, which keeps the flue clean, but the cap just starts getting some kinda' nasty looking buildup anyway.
I got in the habit of checking the flue often when we moved here, and just kept that paranoid habit. Seems it's served me well.
 
Third burn season and I only have it cleaned in the spring. Licensed sweep tells me everything looks good (meaning not excessive creosote).
 
stejus said:
Third burn season and I only have it cleaned in the spring. Licensed sweep tells me everything looks good (meaning not excessive creosote).
Click to expand...

That's great, but it doesn't do @!#R$ for the guy next door.

You are doing well and have the evidence to back it up. Many people don't know how they are doing one way or another.

pen
 
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