Cleaned the Wood Stove - Almost 1/2 Gallon of Creosote

[toddnic]

Hello All,

I just cleaned my Progress Hybrid getting it ready for the upcoming winter season. I got almost 1/2 gallon (7 cups) of creosote. It was all dark black. This past year I burned around 3 cords of pine and helmock (shoulder season) and poplar and red oak (winter). The picture of the chimney is before I cleaned it. Any thoughts on the color of the creosote? Does everything look alright? This amount of creosote is probably a little more than what I usually get. FYI, more than 1/2 of the creosote was in the stove pipe and not in the chimney. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[kennyp2339]

Perhaps switching the single wall smoke pipe to double wall will allow the pipe to stay warmer and reduce creosote build up.
Black powder isn't that bad, when you start getting the shinny tar or diamond black chunks then something is a miss, either under season wood, or burning the stove to low is the culprit.
I would say your fine, maybe practice burning a little hotter if you can.

 

[begreen]

Switching to double-wall stovepipe is a good suggestion, particularly for stoves with lower flue temps. For 3 cords I usually will get <1 cup sote and soot from a sweeping.

 

[toddnic]

Switching to double-wall stovepipe is a good suggestion, particularly for stoves with lower flue temps. For 3 cords I usually will get <1 cup sote and soot from a sweeping.

How often do you sweep your chimney? I normally do mine once each year after the season.

 

[begreen]

Once a year in the summer. Normally we burn about 2.5 cords, but last year we burned 3. This is with a non-cat stove, straightup 20' flue with about 7' outdoor chimney exposure.

 

[toddnic]

Once a year in the summer. Normally we burn about 2.5 cords, but last year we burned 3. This is with a non-cat stove, straightup 20' flue with about 7' outdoor chimney exposure.

I would guess that your setup is burning hotter than mine. I've got almost 15' of stove pipe and chimney total. I'll check on the double-wall stove pipe.

 

[begreen]

Yes, probably. We have double-wall stove pipe coming off the stove and more chimney. Our flue temps cruise at around 100-150º less than the stove top temp, so around 400-550º depending on the time of year and how hard the stove is burning. This is with a probe thermometer.