Stuff falling down my chimney...

[nu2wood]

This is my first season heating my house with a woodstove. Just had a chimney installed in Oct. The past few days we have been noticing a sound like rustling leaves falling down our chimney while we are burning. We have no problems otherwise: no excessively hot chimney. I have not looked in the chimney. Is this creosote falling? Should I be concerned?

 

[Pagey]

It would be wise to inspect it ASAP, yes.

 

[adrpga498]

Santa stuck?

 

[begreen]

That's what I was thinking. May a present got stuck in the flue .

Actually, this does sound like creosote. How serious it is depends on the type and build up. If the wood burnt has been less than ideal, then it sounds like a good time to clean the flue, especially as this is the first season of burning.

 

[LLigetfa]

Where does it collect and were it to ignite can the area take the heat? If it is in a Tee, then I can say from first hand experience that you don't want it lighting off there. My flue exits the top of the stove so any creosote falls back into the stove.

 

[nu2wood]

I don't think that I am burning the stove hot enough, hence the buildup. I have been trying to get longer burns by turning the intake down. My temps have been between 300 and 400 degrees, often falling below 300 at the end of the cycle. Today I have been burning over 400 degrees and there is no smoke coming from the chimney which is usually not the case. Should I avoid burning "cool" fires? (ie: between 300 and 400 degrees) Should I really try to keep the temps in the 400+ range?

 

[nu2wood]

Where does it collect and were it to ignite can the area take the heat? If it is in a Tee, then I can say from first hand experience that youdon't want it lightin goff there. My flue exits the top of the stove so any creosote falls back into the stove.

My flue comes out of the top of the stove for six inches then hits a 45 degree elbow to a six foot straight shot double wall pipe up to the box in the ceiling. Sounds like the creosote is falling down to the stove.

 

[begreen]

Yes, you want to get the stove hot enough for good secondary burning. Try for 450-500 and it should burn cleaner and will keep the flue gases hotter. A first morning fire with the stove top at 600 can help keep the flue cleaner.

If there is a lot of creosote, a hot fire may ignite it. Do be sure you know how much creosote is currently in the pipe and what type. Can you go up an pull the cap and shine a flashlight down the pipe, maybe take a picture? If not, I'd have it swept soon.

 

[LLigetfa]

The angle of repose for creosote can be close to 45 degrees so there could well be some collecting in that section. Some class A chimneys don't offer more than 30 degree elbows.

Yes, you need to run the stove hotter. Visible smoke is not a good sign.

 

[cycloxer]

That is too cold of a burn for a Jotul stove. I hit 600-650°F everytime I light up the stove and with every new load of wood. The sweet spot is 400-600°F. These stoves can take the heat. I spiked to 700°F this evening and the stove handled it just fine. You'll make a mess of your flue if you burn at temps below 400°F, the stove won't burn efficiently, you won't get nearly as much heat, and it can cause a dangerous buildup of creosote. Load up the fuel and crank up the air.

Oh and I'd probably get up on the roof and clean the flue asap and check things out. You shouldn't be hearing leaves rustling. That's not normal.

 

[nu2wood]

Thanks for the advice! Not a good chance of me getting up on my roof to inspect things as the pitch is steep but I will be sure to get someone to check things out ASAP. I had a feeling I was being too "soft" with the stove. Guess we will have to control room temps with some open windows and less clothing

 

[snowtime]

You need to check the chimney. As to your opening windows the trick to keeping the stove working hot enough to stop creosote and not overheating is to not load up the stove in mild weather. Do not load it up and then turn it down all the way to control heat. The deal is you can keep the air open enough to get a hot fire and pipe but if you only have a half a load or less it will burn down before your baked out of the house. You have to learn how much is needed to get hot and not overheat the house because we all have different conditions such as what type of wood we are using. This is just one of the lessons we all learn.

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the advice! Not a good chance of me getting up on my roof to inspect things as the pitch is steep but I will be sure to get someone to check things out ASAP. I had a feeling I was being too "soft" with the stove. Guess we will have to control room temps with some open windows and less clothing

Use less wood for shorter fires or let the stove go out if it's too warm in the room. That's better than letting it smolder.

 

[firefighterjake]

Already mentioned, but it bears repeating.

Yes . . . there is a very good chance the sound you were hearing was creosote falling off the inside of the chimney. If you've been burning cool (and it certainly sounds like you have) I would suggest you check and sweep this chimney sooner rather than later.

Temps . . . oh yeah . . . this is way, way too cool. I routinely get my Oslo up to 500 or 550 degrees . . . 400-450 degrees is right on the border of being on the low side for me. I also have a thermometer (probe style for the double wall pipe) which helps me monitor the stack temp

Temperature in the house . . . you soon learn to moderate the temp with wood selection -- species, size of the splits and amount you load into the firebox and how often. In other words, in the Spring when I'm looking to take the chill out of the air I'll do a quick, fast fire typically loading the firebox halfway with softwood or softwood slabs, small to medium in size and I'll let the fire die out without reloading. Room gets warm and then the heat slowly dissipates. In the winter when I'm needing plenty of heat to keep up with the sub zero weather I'm using the well seasoned hardwood, picking out the medium to larger sized wood and loading up the firebox . . . and reloading it when it has reached the coaling stage.