How Often

[ggans]

Should I clean my chimney? and what about the pipes from the stove? I only burned a couple of months last year but found much ash in the stove pipes. The chimney is easy to clean but the pipes are a pain. Advice please..

 

[leaddog]

This isn't easy to answer because it depends on many factors. Not trying to be funny but the answer is as often as it needs it. If you are burning wet wood and smoldering the stove then every day would be smart. Different stoves burn different, types and moisture content of wood has a HUGE difference on creasote buildup, and how much the stove idles or burning HOT makes a big difference.
I had my bad chimney fire 35 years ago after burning for a couple weeks after cleaning my chimney, the temps were mild durring the day and then we had a COLD, COLD nite. The stove burnt hot that nite and so did the chimney. Learn your stove and how you and the wood burns and clean when needed.
Alot of the old timers used to take newspaper and lite it aqnd put it in the chimney EVERY morning to burn off any creasote that had formed. They did that because their wood was not seasoned, they had to burn huge amounts to try and heat up the drafty house and the stoves were not easily regulated.
Creasote will expand when it burns so that a chimney that has a 1/2in coating can become plugged when the creasote catches on fire. It also burns at a very high temp and can make a chimney turn red in just a few seconds or if a masonery one make the stone suround ing it start blowing stone chips off because it heats it so fast moisture in the stone turns to steam and explodes. You then have a sound like a freight train comeing into the room and have a roman candle shooting flames out the top of the chimney. Thats why I now have a gasifier boiler in a shed so I burn the gases before it can form in the chimney plus I get alot of btu's that used to go out the chimney. I clean my chimney once a year just to remove the fly ash.
leaddog