Let's talk about Creosote

[Snowdooer]

OK, Obviously creosote is a bad thing. The best way to prevent it is to keep your flue temperature high enough so that it doesn't form on the chimney walls. But short of spending the time to do a "hot" burn to clear the chiney, regular uses of a chimney sweeping log, and regular chimney maintenance what else have people done/used to keep the creosote down in your chineys.

For example, my mother always kept the potato peels and egg shells aside to burn in the fire place. I read a post on another website earlier today that "burning" a couple aluminum cans in your stove now and again works as well.

There is chemistry involved here and I'm not a chemist. Something in all these chimney "sweeping" products is reacting with the creosote to in effect "dry it out" turning it to harmless flakes.

Any ideas? Home remedies? Chemists?

 

[mpilihp]

A co-worker told us to keep a can/bowl at the bottom of the chimney full of amonia, put there via the cleanout. after the first two times of doing it (one month between cleanings) there was alot of loose flaky creosote in the base of the chimney and not alot came off the walls.

With our wood stove and oil boiler running in one flue before switching over to a wood boiler we used to only clean twice a year, once before snow flew (around now) and again when things were warming up, (March) This was enough, dont know if it was because we ran the stove hotter than the wood boiler runs or because the oil boiler was running in the same flue and its exhaust dryed and made the creosote drop. Either way we are planning on cleaning chimney once a month till we know how often its expected.

~ Phil

 

[pybyr]

where's Adios Pantalones? I think I recall that he mentioned that he's a chemist by both training and trade