Cleaning/brushing inside of stove

[Crysta]

Hi all,

how often does everyone clean/brush out the inside of their wood stove to remove soot? I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong but I get a thin layer of black soot built up rather quick. I clean out some ash everyday but leave a bit in the bottom, but not sure how often I should be brushing off the soot from the baffle and other inside surfaces.
thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Bad LP]

Never brushed the inside of a stove and don't know anybody who does.

Vac is only done at the end of the season. Just a shovel to the ash otherwise.

 

[Grizzerbear]

I wouldnt bother cleaning the inside of the stove at all other than occasionally emptying ashes. Maybe give a good spit shine when the burning season is over if your ocd.....but i dont worry about it.

 

[Crysta]

Thanks! I kind of had a feeling that would be the case but the OCD part of me wondered whether I should be doing it!

 

[jatoxico]

I brush when I sweep. Buildup of ash and creosote can inhibit heat transfer since its supposed to be a fair insulator. I don't go nuts, just a quick brush down, Get the burn tubes as well.

 

[Kevin Weis]

For me at mid season sweep and end of season when the stove is cold. Just what the vac brush will get. I don't go whole hog.

 

[Grizzerbear]

Would you folks with cat stoves consider this a bigger issue than folks with a non cat. I mean i cant see that it would matter much with all the ash in a stove anyways. Just wondering if crud on the walls would contribute much if any to plugging a cat.

 

[blacktail]

8 years with my stove and I haven't brushed the inside yet.

 

[BigJ273]

I do it once a month. But I’m a little OCD. Takes five min.

 

[Crysta]

I brush when I sweep. Buildup of ash and creosote can inhibit heat transfer since its supposed to be a fair insulator. I don't go nuts, just a quick brush down, Get the burn tubes as well.

that was my thoughts on maybe why I should do it. I would assume hot fires would burn off a good bit of it, but wondered whether accumulation would insulate and reduce heat transfer to the room. As I have quite a small stove I’m keen to get as much heat from it as possible, although since it that sits within a masonry hearth, I suppose it’s not that big of deal since I lose a lot of heat to the brick walls beside and behind it.

 

[Crysta]

Thanks all for your replies!

 

[firefighterjake]

Hi all,

how often does everyone clean/brush out the inside of their wood stove to remove soot? I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong but I get a thin layer of black soot built up rather quick. I clean out some ash everyday but leave a bit in the bottom, but not sure how often I should be brushing off the soot from the baffle and other inside surfaces.
thanks in advance for any advice!

I don't worry about the soot . . .

I clean out the ash when the ash pan gets full . . . about once or twice a week . . . but I leave an inch or so in the base of the firebox.

I do clean out the accumulated fly ash that builds up above the baffle annually as it can build up in my stove to the point where it can block the flue.

 

[Longknife]

Annually (usually before the burn season and when I sweep the chimney) I use a 3/4" neoprene tube connected to my shop vac and go through the chimney opening on top of the stove and vacuum out all the fly ash that accumulates on top of the baffle. The first time I did this (after a few years of use) it made a big difference in the stove performance as it can accumulate fairly significantly up there.

As far as soot in the inside, a hot fire seems to take care of it.

 

[electrathon]

Don't worry about it and stop cleaning the thing out daily. When the bottom starts to get full clean it out then. And there is no reason to do a good job, there will just be more ashes coming.

 

[Crysta]

Don't worry about it and stop cleaning the thing out daily. When the bottom starts to get full clean it out then. And there is no reason to do a good job, there will just be more ashes coming.

Thanks! I have actually stopped scooping out some ash everyday (I never took all of it, just a bit), but I’ve started just taking out a few scoops of ash every few days or so when it starts to reach the top edge. It’s a small stove so it doesn’t hold a lot of ash before it starts to spill over when you open it