Chimney Cleaning?

[FrankMA]

This will be my first season burning and I'm curious how often the chimney should be cleaned and how easy (or difficult) is it to do it yourself? I plan to burn as often as possible to offset my oil bill. I work from my home (when not on the road) so it will be close to 24/7. I have about 5 cords of good, seasoned hardwood that will be burned in a Jotul c550 insert, full SS liner with cap.

I've seen or read that it should be cleaned every cord or so during the burning season but this seems a little much. The few people I've spoken to say they clean their chimney after the burning season has ended in the springtime.

Your feedback and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[cmonSTART]

Minimum of once a year, but I do mine 2 or 3 times per season just to keep things in good shape. I'm probably a little overkill about it.

 

[lazeedan]

I clean mine before the first fire of the season and then again in Januarary to be safe.

 

[homebrewz]

There are all sorts of variables involved:

-Efficiency of insert (how much junk will it spew forth into your liner)
-Is the liner insulated? (I assume the chimney is on the side of the house making it more susceptible to cold outside air)
-What you burn, how much you burn, and how often

and there are probably more worth mentioning. If its your first season with this setup, and you are burning more
than a couple of cords, you might consider doing a mid-season cleaning to see how dirty the liner has gotten.
That will give you an idea how often you should clean it for future seasons (assuming you're always going to burn
dry hardwoods).

 

[BrotherBart]

Same old advice. Look down the flue once a month the first season to get an idea how much accumulates and sweep once a year minimum. I sweep twice a year just because.

If you see it getting to around a quarter inch of accumulation then sweep it. That is a good clean burning stove but it is going to take you awhile to get the hang of burning in it. The "whoops" burns in the beginning are the ones that really crap up a chimney.

 

[fossil]

How "easy (or difficult)" it is to do by yourself depends on a whole lot of things. How tall is the chimney? What's the configuration of it? Freestanding stove, or insert? Can it be cleaned from the bottom, or the top, or through a tee? Will it need to be partially disassembled? How many stories on your house? What's the pitch of your roof? What's the roof material? How much chimney is sticking up through the roof at the point where you can access it? Do you have the appropriate ladders and cleaning tools? Are you comfortable doing it? The question's just too hard! :down: Rick

 

[BrotherBart]

How "easy (or difficult)" it is to do by yourself depends on a whole lot of things. How tall is the chimney? What's the configuration of it? Freestanding stove, or insert? Can it be cleaned from the bottom, or the top, or through a tee? Will it need to be partially disassembled? How many stories on your house? What's the pitch of your roof? What's the roof material? How much chimney is sticking up through the roof at the point where you can access it? Do you have the appropriate ladders and cleaning tools? Are you comfortable doing it? The question's just too hard! :down: Rick

You're right. After reading that I will never clean my chimneys again. :shut: And it made my head hurt too.

 

[fossil]

I clean mine only because I'm OK with the answers I can come up with to all those kinds of questions. At least for now, anyway. %-P Rick

 

[BrotherBart]

I clean mine only because I'm OK with the answers I can come up with to all those kinds of questions. At least for now, anyway. %-P Rick

There is a special place somewhere for engineers. I haven't figured out where, but it is somewhere. ;-P