How long between chimney sweeps?

[jotul8e2]

So, with modern EPA rated stoves, dry and seasoned wood, and good burning habits, how long should one be able to go between chimney sweeps?

First, some details:
The stove is an Jotul Oslo F500.
The flue is Excel 6" pipe that runs straight up from the back of the stove then about 30' through ceiling, attic, and the top of a chase with a single three inch 45 deg. offset that was necessary to get past a ceiling joist.
I burn oak and hickory which I cut, split, and stack myself.
I do not burn unless I can get the stove up to full operating temperature and can burn at least one load. Otherwise, I burn 24/7 from about the first of November to early April. Between two and three cords, depending upon the weather.

Here is what I found today:
The cap has a bit of flaky creosote. I brushed it off with my hand.


This is inside the flue, just below the cap (the bottom of the cap can be seen as the bright horizontal edge where my finger brushed it).

The smooth area is where I ran my finger up the pipe - what you see is the stainless interior underneath a vanishingly thin coat of creosote - less than 1/32". And this extends down only six inches. Below that it is just dust. The creosote could be wiped out with a single paper towel.

So how long between sweeps? How about never? This flue has been in use for eight seasons and has never been swept.

 

[bholler]

That should have been swept a while ago. It looks like that could possibly be some burnt material in the top of the second pic. But it is hard to tell. I clean every 2 years. What does your chimney look like lower?

 

[toddnic]

That could be a dangerous situation....especially going 8 seasons between cleanings. I clean my chimney every season and have an EPA rated stove. I definitely would recommend checking it each year between seasons. Also, cleaning isn't that hard to do....why take a chance?

 

[firefighterjake]

I would guess most folks here would suggest 1-2 cleanings a year for the person who has learned the habits of their stove and have an idea of how it burns -- most seem to clean it at the beginning of the season and at least check it mid-way through with a possible cleaning.

I generally suggest to the newbie (or person new to EPA stoves) to check it monthly . . . some even find in the first month or two that checking it even more frequently is better) . . . to insure the chimney is not gunking up.

For me personally I sweep it monthly. Honestly, it's overkill on my part. However, I do it because a) it's a 10-minute job for me by sweeping it from the bottom outside and b) I would never hear the end of it from my co-workers if I had a chimney fire.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

jotul8e2 ,
Like you, I'm very lucky thus far on buildup. Ours looks the same after one season
but to a much lesser degree so far. I can still see the shine thru the fine layer
so I'm laying strong odds it isn't thick enough to ignite.

Mine/ours is on that same path and would/ will look the same after a few seasons if we let it go.
Going with an annual cleaning at this house. Inspections more often tho as my stock has varying
degrees of moisture vs density vs dead time.

PS On a side note, noticed your location and the Ozarks are probably my favorite area to tour
on my KLR650. You have the best twisty roads and off road riding on the flippin' planet.

CheapAndLivingFun

 

[rijim]

Many things come into play that can cause more buildup; why chance it, get the right tools then cleaning and inspection is only an hour or 2. Once a year minimum.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

I clean my chimney once a year. I never get that much out of it, but I still do it once a year. Usually in late spring when burning season is over and done with.

 

[xman23]

Really 8 years. My cap like yours didn't make it through the first year and it was plugged The wood then was a bit wet. That chimney doesn't look very good. So I assume you brushed it. How much did you get out of it? If not your playing with fire. Have you every seen a chimney fire? There must be one on You Tube.

I brush once a year, maybe next weekend.

 

[richmhv]

I have the same stove and clean the chimney once a year. I mostly get ash dust with creosote only at the very top and very little of it. My old stove, an old Better N Bens 901 insert used to yield a bucket of creosote every year. So if you always burn hot, just clean it every year for peace of mind.

 

[The Principal]

I was told by the chimney sweeper to do it every cord, but doing it once a season is fine (3 cords) for the build up I have been getting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bholler]

I was told by the chimney sweeper to do it every chord

That is way to often in my opinion. We typically say every 3 cords. But with a modern stove good fuel and good burning hapits you can go quite a bit longer than that.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I burned wet wood all last year 24/7 for 5 months. Many smoldering fires because of the warmer temps during the winter. I got about a half gallon of creosote out.

 

[begreen]

Clean it as often as needed. There is no general rule. Chimneys vary, stoves vary, wood moisture varies, exterior temps vary and operators vary. If the system is new to you or the wood moisture is unknown then cleaning it once per cord is good advice. Once every 3 full cords is about when I clean ours, even though it could go longer, but there was one year when I was burning wood that didn't season well and I had to clean it twice during the season. Likewise someone could be burning in a cat stove always on low, connected to a cold chimney with a lot of exterior exposure. That chimney too may need cleaning more than once a season.

 

[Adabiviak]

I clean mine yearly, partly to keep the accumulation down, partly to make sure nothing has clogged it (like a bird nest or something) right before the burn season), partly for the satisfaction of seeing how little buildup there is after a year, and partly to maintain a baseline against which I can gauge how well I burned during the prior season.

If I went for 8 seasons without cleaning, I'd like to think mine would be like that (it's dense, but still stage 1 creosote, no?)

 

[jotul8e2]

Sorry, got busy doing other things.

Yes, clean it when it gets dirty. My close up photo probably made it look worse than it was. I actually wiped out the entire area with a single paper towel. It did not fill the towel with particles, it merely turned the towel black. There was nothing to sweep. The cap, on the other hand, had probably 1/8 cup of creosote on the screen that I brushed off.

I have been through two chimney fires, as it happens, in different locations. Both were masonry fireplace chimneys. This was many years ago while growing up. I have a deep and abiding respect for the danger. One thing I learned back then is that a masonry flue will build up a layer slowly, and then rapidly. I imagine that a modern steel flue will do much the same.

So clean it when it is dirty.

 

[drz1050]

^ very true. The more creosote in a flue, the slower the exhaust gases will go. The slower the gases go, the more creosote they build. Best bet is to never let it get started in the first place.

 

[Sodbuster]

I also clean once a year, in the fall. I have never gotten more than half a coffee can of ash out of the pipe. I bet you could go 2 years, but for the 1/2 hour it takes me, it's worth the peace of mind.

 

[Beer Belly]

I sweep the Chimney every year before the start of the season....twice, if the weather gives me a chance mid season

 

[kennyp2339]

I can get away doing 1 sweep a year but I usually do 2 sweeps a season because I don't want to worry. I burn on average 4 cords a year, sometimes less if its warmer, sometimes more if its colder.
I'm a volunteer fire fighter so I am routinely exposed to tragedy, so I am a little more sensitive / conservative with how I treat wood burning and I don't want to go to work and worry about something that could be preventable like a chimney fire.

 

[Fort Wisers]

We do all ours once a season, just before the start of the new season. We could likely get away with every second season, even on the PE Summit that is used the most (24/7 from October to April) as each year the build up is very little. However it only takes a couple hours to do the three at home and gives a good idea of how well the stove / wood has been burning. As begreen mentioned, there is not set rule as there are a lot of factors that come into play.
This all being said for 8 years that build up isn't terrible. It definitely needs a sweep and I wouldn't want to run like that before doing so. I'd also be worried if that were only a year but based on your accumulation for an 8 year cycle, a yearly sweep is likely all you're going to need. Again, adjust based on findings from the previous sweep.
Just my two cents......

 

[billb3]

Once a year.
We burn very well seasoned wood and don't try to choke the stove way down in the shoulder seasons and have short hot burns instead.
Get almost nothing.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

I'm conservative on mine, I sweep in the fall, I'll probably sweep in the next week or so, then again in may when burning is done. Not much ever comes out but the soot eater makes it easy so I figure why not?

 

[jetsam]

I sweep and wire brush the cap several times a year. It's free and only takes a half hour including cleanup. Probably less for the bottom-up guys.

My advice for how often someone else should do it is once a month, and slow down as you get comfortable that nothing is coming out and you really don't need to do it so often.

Low flue temps allow creosote to condense, so if you start into a pile of wetter wood or start burning lower, you should check more often than your usual tempo.

 

[ohlongarm]

I would guess most folks here would suggest 1-2 cleanings a year for the person who has learned the habits of their stove and have an idea of how it burns -- most seem to clean it at the beginning of the season and at least check it mid-way through with a possible cleaning.

I generally suggest to the newbie (or person new to EPA stoves) to check it monthly . . . some even find in the first month or two that checking it even more frequently is better) . . . to insure the chimney is not gunking up.

For me personally I sweep it monthly. Honestly, it's overkill on my part. However, I do it because a) it's a 10-minute job for me by sweeping it from the bottom outside and b) I would never hear the end of it from my co-workers if I had a chimney fire.

I'm with you once a month takes a half an hour. I brush from the ncap down ,then use the shop vac with an extended hose to clean whatever falls on the chimney shelf.

 

[begreen]

I'll be doing our seasonal cleaning shortly. Last fall I got under a cup full. In the last burning season we burned the most we've ever burned in a season. The wood was dry and the fires didn't smolder. I'll be interested to see what comes down this year. If it is under a cup again I may switch to a 2 yr cycle.

I'm with you once a month takes a half an hour. I brush from the ncap down ,then use the shop vac with an extended hose to clean whatever falls on the chimney shelf.

That depends on the roof pitch, height and cap accessibility. My days of going up on the roof to check the cap have ended. I'm getting too old for that stuff. The the cap screen is gone and the sooteater has made bottom up cleaning easy.