The Dali Lima said:
Hello everyone... I've been burning for about two weeks now and really getting the hang of it all... I've let my fire run overnight once or twice and it is amazing how this stove (Jotul Oslo) can heat the entire house once it gets running.
A few questions for you... minor, but thought I'd check here...
#1 - how do you leave the flue (open or closed) when the stove is not in operation? I've been leaving it shut.
#2 - glass cleaner - I know this has been answered before... my glass is generally clean, but I've been cleaning it with water/vinegar between burns
#3 - Creosite - my manual says to check my chimney every TWO weeks!! Is that necessary? I've seen people post that they generally check every year or so... I'm burning 300 - 450, but it definitely takes 30 or 40 minutes to get her up to 300 degrees.
#4 - My brother in law uses those "creosite burning" logs from time to time to clean out his chimney - do they work? Are they safe? Are they a gimmick?
Thanks!
DL . . . I'm not a real expert since I've only been using my Oslo since mid- to late-September but I think I can answer some of the questions with a reasonable amount of confidence.
1) This time of year I'm pretty much running it 24/7, but earlier in the year I would typically shut the draft all the way down. I don't know if it made much difference and to tell the truth in most cases it was a case of the draft lever being positioned there when the fire died out.
2) Cleaning the glass . . . there are a number of suggestions ranging from razor blades, commercial stove glass cleaners, regular ol' Windex, damp/dry newspaper, using ashes, vinegar and just running the stove hot enough to blast off the glass akin to using a self-cleaning feature on an oven.
In general I've found that I don't get too much build up on the glass (as a first year burner I've been very lucky to have cut down a lot of dry standing dead elm this past summer which means I've largely avoided the first year burner's pitfall of burning unseasoned wood.) However, on occasion I do get some brown discoloration and even some blackening when I have attempted to use wood that I knew to be less than desirable (i.e. a standing dead elm cut a week ago . . . and I knew this wasn't ready based on the heft and splitting characteristics) or when I have dampered the draft down too soon with wood that was questionable for an overnight burn. I've also got some fly ash that messes up my crystal clear view of the fire.
For this reason, about once or twice a week when I'm taking care of the ashes in the ash pan I use a wet cloth (actually an old pair of my boxer shorts that have way too many holes in them to be of any use) and use the cool ash to clean off the glass -- cheap, easy and effective. If things are really dirty I'll either get a nice, rip-roaring fire to burn off the mess or use a commercial glass cleaner.
3) Being in my profession it would be a very embarassing thing to have a chimney fire . . . and so I check and clean my chimney a lot more than needed in my opinion . . . typically the first Saturday of the month. So far, so good . . . not much creosote. I believe if you are burning good, seasoned wood doing a cleaning at the first of the season, middle and end would be appropriate . . . but since this is your first year of burning I might do as I am doing for the first few months or year and at least check it monthly. Checking every two weeks seems to be an overkill . . . unless you're burning less than desirable wood.
4) From what I've read and heard from various chimney sweeps that I work with (they're also firefighters) the chimney sweeping logs may work to some degree . . . but they are still not a true alternative to doing a physical sweep of the chimney contrary to the ads I see on TV which shows the creosote just turning to flakes and gently falling to the bottom of the chimney, leaving the chimney clean as can be.
P.S. Once you get used to the Oslo don't be afraid to really crank the Oslo . . . I'm finding my best results for true heat occur in the 400-600 F range and to really turn up the heat I get the stove nice and hot (550-600 F) and then turn down the draft in stages to get some nice secondary action.
