Chimney cleaning?

[BillsWS]

Hello, last summer I installed my first chimney (6" Class A) and a new Blaze King Princess stove in this house. I am a part time burner. Might start Wednesday night and keep giong till Sunday and let it go out. Might just be Saturday night and Sunday. My wood is 2 years dry. Do you think I should clean my chimney now? If I pull the cap off the bottom I can look straight up (about 30 ft.) will I be able to tell visually if it needs cleaning? And seeing as I am asking, is there any maintenance I need to do to the catalytic combuster during the season (I apologize, I know I could look in the manual, I am just darn tired and heading to bed so too lazy to look it up now)

Thank you.

 

[remkel]

If it is a straight shot you should be able to get a good look, however, many times the worst accumulation is near the top. If you have dry wood you should be all set, but burning off and on means a lot of cold starts. I would have a look to see how things are.

As for the catalyst, I will leave that to someone who operates a catalytic stove.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

30 ft is a tall chimney, it has been my experience that the longer the chimney the more time the smoke has too cool before leaving, and the more creosote accumulation your get, especially near the top as remkel already pointed out. If you can get on your roof to do a visual inspection of the cap and top portion of your chimney you'll have a better idea of what's going on.
It is usually recommended that new burners inspect their chimneys once a month until they figure out just how much creosote is being produced by their particular stove and burning habits. So I would say you are overdue for a proper inspection.

 

[remkel]

I have a 34 foot run to the top. Just cleaned the flue and got about two cups of powdery soot. Most of that was in the last 4 feet of the flue.

 

[etiger2007]

I say check it, piece of mind makes me sleep better at night.