How often should the chimney be cleaned?
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That is going to depend on a lot of things. Do you burn seasoned wood or marginal wood? Do you have a SS lined masonry chimney, a standard masonry chimney, a class A chimney? Are these chimney's interior to the house structure or against an outside wall? What type of stove is it? Does the diameter of the chimney match the stove collar's diameter? Do you burn the stove slowly in an effort to conserve wood, or do you maintain good stove top and flue temps?
W/out knowing any of the answers to those questions, it's advisable to inspect the chimney by looking up or down the pipe and perhaps cleaning the cap if needed, monthly. After experience, you then can judge if it is safe to go longer than that. If the chimney is easy to clean and you can do it yourself, I would recommend doing it monthly until you get comfortable with what good burning habits are and what is a normal amount of accumulation in the chimney.
If there are no indications of problems and you need to hire this job done, and you burn well, then for a new install I'd recommend a mid season cleaning (now) and one again at the end of the year. After a few cleanings by the sweep, he then can recommend if it's wise to stretch that interval or not. With well installed and operating system, it would be normal for 1 to 2 cleanings per year.
Here are a few links for some suggested reading:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/48236/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/65194/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/creosote_from_wood_burning_causes_and_solutions
http://www.csia.org/
http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Home-Safety/Fire-Safety/when-to-clean-a-chimney-flue
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/4845/
pen
W/out knowing any of the answers to those questions, it's advisable to inspect the chimney by looking up or down the pipe and perhaps cleaning the cap if needed, monthly. After experience, you then can judge if it is safe to go longer than that. If the chimney is easy to clean and you can do it yourself, I would recommend doing it monthly until you get comfortable with what good burning habits are and what is a normal amount of accumulation in the chimney.
If there are no indications of problems and you need to hire this job done, and you burn well, then for a new install I'd recommend a mid season cleaning (now) and one again at the end of the year. After a few cleanings by the sweep, he then can recommend if it's wise to stretch that interval or not. With well installed and operating system, it would be normal for 1 to 2 cleanings per year.
Here are a few links for some suggested reading:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/48236/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/65194/
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/creosote_from_wood_burning_causes_and_solutions
http://www.csia.org/
http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Home-Safety/Fire-Safety/when-to-clean-a-chimney-flue
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/4845/
pen
Thanks for the information. Had it cleaned before the season started but will have someone come out to take a look at it. Rather be safe than sorry.
As often as it needs it. That could be every 2 weeks, burning green wood and smoldering in a cold chimney. Or it could be every year or two, burning dry wood in an EPA stove with a warm flue.
As a newbie to wood heat "in my own home" I went with a 2/4/6 week intervals to get a feel as to what was going on up there. My set up is rather simple with a snorkling stove pipe into Class A with a straight shot through the house. I let the stove cool to under 100, clean out 90% of ash and coals, pull the stove pipe and clean from the bottom up. My accumulation was actually about the same for all three clean outs but I attribute that to three factors: A bit paranoid at first so I was burning cooler(translate smoldering fires), long shoulder season so I was not getting as hot as I could, and after the 4 week I started throwing a scoop of Rutlands in once a week. There are mixed reviews on the stuff but as cheap as it is I feel it offers affordable peace of mind. I will say that since using Rutlands, on the 6 week clean out I had more(almost all) brown powder Vs. 50% or more black shiny on the other two clean outs. You can see photos of what I am talking about in the Pre-EPA forum. I will likely do the same process next year when I start burning in a new EPA stove. Again, just to get a feel for what is happening up there. As you mentioned, one cannot be too careful when lighting big fires inside their home.
As Pen stated, there are many factors involved so a hard and fast rule is difficult to give except for new wood burners and that is to check their chimneys monthly and clean as necessary.
To give an example of how stoves can vary, our old stove, pre EPA, used to burn okay but we had to clean the chimney 2-4 times per year. One year we burned terrible wood and cleaned it at least 6 times. Then we put in the Fireview and a new chimney. This is our 5th year of using this stove and we've cleaned it one time and that was after our 2nd year of burning.
btw Rory, we heat totally with our wood stove too. No furnace backup either.
To give an example of how stoves can vary, our old stove, pre EPA, used to burn okay but we had to clean the chimney 2-4 times per year. One year we burned terrible wood and cleaned it at least 6 times. Then we put in the Fireview and a new chimney. This is our 5th year of using this stove and we've cleaned it one time and that was after our 2nd year of burning.
btw Rory, we heat totally with our wood stove too. No furnace backup either.
When I first started burning I checked after two weeks since I wasn't sure about the quality of my wood . . . after that I checked and cleaned monthly regardless of whether the chimney needed it or not. Honestly, for me now, it's over-kill, but checking and cleaning every month is a good habit to get into and for me it's a cheap and easy job . . . plus I sleep better at night. Very few people complain about not having a chimney fire because they took the time to clean more often than they needed to . . .
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