Chimney cleaning frequency?

i think i will be on the one-two month plan
put a stove in new house so didnt have a great wood supply
i did a visual check the other day and it looked ok.
i beat and banged on the stove pipe and got maybe a half cup of the black stuff.
so i'll be needing a sweeping soon enough

IA burner, does it really matter how often others clean their chimney? No doubt their installation is different from you as well as their stove and their wood and their burning habits. Here's one example why it doesn't matter too much. With our old stove we used to clean our chimney 4-6 times per year and sometimes even more often. Yet, in the last 4 years we've cleaned our chimney one time. Same wood; different stove and different chimney. How much did we get in that one cleaning? About a cup full of soot and no creosote.

The monthly plan is excellent for new burners. You will be able to tell once you start getting little or anything from the cleaning if you could extend the time or not. If you make sure your wood has been split and stacked for 2 years then that would be the very best thing you can do to cut down on the cleaning because that wood simply will burn much better.

I don't want to steal the OP question, but this goes along with it... Can over sweeping hurt the pipe? I have a sooteater and wonder if this could create any problems by sweeping too much?

Even using the same stove and flue system for years you get a feel for how often to inspect and brush. But then other changes like different wood, burning habit or even a different user firing the stove (wife) can cause creosote not seen before. I will be checking monthly again until it proves itself once more.

We had ours cleaned after the first season (not bad)....then went 2 seasons...got a good amount of stuff....so back to once a season.

I agree, it depend on your stove and your operation. With the VC I burned in RI, I cleaned it at least once a month. The Jotul I have in Md, I can clean the exterior once a season. In between, I do take the inside horizontal pipe off and inspect the thimbal and brush brush both. It also gives me the chance to look in at the vertical exterior as well.

I went two years with my Lopi Endeavor and got about 3 cups of dry stuff. It really does depend on what stove you have, and how you burn. Thing is, I've definitely burned moist wood - I think it's just the EPA stoves.

I generally recommend newbies check and clean their chimney once a month in the first year . . . since many have less than ideal wood or may not be running a hot enough temp. Usually after the first year they will be able to get a handle on how good or bad the chimney was. . . .

I think most experienced folks burning good wood and at the right temps could get by with 1-3 cleanings in a season with no problems.

As for me . . . I check and clean monthly once I get burning full-time. Honestly, it's over-kill, but I do it anyway since a) it's a habit and not a bad habit to get into, b) since I can to a bottom-up inspection and cleaning it's a 10-15 minute job, c) the short amount of time it takes buys me peace of mind and d) if I ever had a chimney fire I would never hear the end of it from my co-workers.

Routine inspections for me.

Burning dry, seasoned wood in an EPA HE stove and I don't need to clean the chimney. Just a thin film of fly ash/carbon deposits on the inside of the chimney, no creosote build-up at all.

I'm glad to hear that the "check monthly" advice is overkill for some people and their set-up. Two weeks ago, I cleaned out my chimney & only got about one cup of completely white ash from all of last year. I attribute that to heeding all the other advice on this forum regarding using well-seasoned wood and an insulated chimney liner. I also don't burn much at these temps because the house has a natural gas furnace & I save the stove for when the btu's are really necessary.
So that makes for at least four variables in how often to sweep--wood, set-up, burning temps, & stove.
I put those in my order of importance-from most to least.
Any other opinions?

vixster said:

I don't want to steal the OP question, but this goes along with it... Can over sweeping hurt the pipe? I have a sooteater and wonder if this could create any problems by sweeping too much?

Click to expand...

No problems....unless you get tired.

i do it twice a season once in the middle on a warm day and once at the very end. real easy get less then a cup of ash and flakes.

Once a year, whether they need it or not. Could probably go every other year, but it's nice to have a clean start every year.