Could a longer chimney insert mean less frequent chimney sweeping?

[latichever]

I'm not sure of the physics or chemistry here, but is it possible that a longer chimney might mean less often cleaning is needed? I have a three-story metal insert going through my brick chimney. Is there any sense that the exhaust being distributed over a longer/greater surface means the deposits are similarly distributed less densely over any given area? By analogy--and I'm not sure it's a good one, if you have short hair, you need to shampoo more often than if you have long hair. Your scalp is always secreting the same amount of oil, which means short hair will have more oil per unit of strand length.

There is no way I can clean the length of chimney I have without a professional--or professional equipment. But I also wonder if with a long chimney more of the bad stuff will concentrate closer to the stove, and dissipate in its concentration as it travels up the pipe--meaning I can be ok with cleaning just as far upwards as I could reach with a brush--and saving the full cleaning for a professional on a less frequent basis.

 

[Mr. Spock]

Creosote will tend to form in cooler parts of the venting. So I would say not.

 

[hockeypuck]

I agree. I have a 18 foot liner in an outside chimney and cleaned it after 3/4ton of pellets...it was a 4 inch ss liner and it had at least 1/2 of caked soot inside. I can only imagine what it looked like further down. Brushed then used the blower trick. I might dump some insulation down next year to help with this.

 

[Lousyweather]

hmmm....assuming you are havingit cleaned professionally o0nce a year, I dont think it would be prudent to change anything and assume any differently....its always good to either clean it, or have it cleaned once a year. Some chimneys/liners may require more frequent cleaning, but I'd say once a year is an absolute minimum in any chimney/liner situation.

 

[latichever]

Another coupl of questions. How do I locate and vet a professional chimney sweep? I notice there are at least two certification groups. The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), and the National Chimney Sweep Guild (NCSG). Is either of these certifications a good place to start? Is one of the certifications better than the other? Any recommendations for Southern Connecticut?

 

[Lousyweather]

I would say the NCSG.
(broken link removed to http://www.ncsg.org/search)