Sweeping Chimney

[Bubbas Boys]

This is our first year in our new home, we are heating with a Kitchen Queen 480 wood cookstove. This is our ONLY heat source. How do folks sweep the chimney during the burning season in this situation. If let the stove go cold to sweep will the house stay up to temp long enough? It is new home with good insulation. Maybe wait for a warmer day in winter? What does everyone else do an how often do you sweep? This stove is suppose to be one of the best cookstoves at the lack of producing creosote. We will be burning all 18% and under wood. Thanks.

 

[adrpga498]

I sweep in April . If your wood supply is dry you should be fine without a mid winter sweep.

 

[CenterTree]

This is our first year in our new home, we are heating with a Kitchen Queen 480 wood cookstove. This is our ONLY heat source. How do folks sweep the chimney during the burning season in this situation. If let the stove go cold to sweep will the house stay up to temp long enough? It is new home with good insulation. Maybe wait for a warmer day in winter? What does everyone else do an how often do you sweep? This stove is suppose to be one of the best cookstoves at the lack of producing creosote. We will be burning all 18% and under wood. Thanks.

I would think that creosote is more indicative of the wood's moisture content then a particular stove design. However that stove might be more efficient and have a low particulate output (emissions so to speak). Also, that stove is designed to have less creosote IN THE STOVE, not necessarily the chimney. FYI. Keep an eye on the flue.
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What type of liner in in the chimney? If it is Stainless steel then you would have to wait for the liner to cool enough before you used your POLY brush in there. Therefore the house may get a little cold also.

If the liner is clay, then you may be alright as far as the timing goes. You should be able to sweep it with a steel wire brush sooner than with a poly.

Also, I would imagine that if you are burning good low moisture wood, and you have a modern stove, you should be able to get through the burn season B4 you need to sweep. Depending on other factors. But, since you live in a cold area, your mileage may vary.

 

[smokedragon]

I sweep in April . If your wood supply is dry you should be fine without a mid winter sweep.

Ditto. If you have to sweep mid season, you have to let it go cold.

 

[firefighterjake]

This is our first year in our new home, we are heating with a Kitchen Queen 480 wood cookstove. This is our ONLY heat source. How do folks sweep the chimney during the burning season in this situation. If let the stove go cold to sweep will the house stay up to temp long enough? It is new home with good insulation. Maybe wait for a warmer day in winter? What does everyone else do an how often do you sweep? This stove is suppose to be one of the best cookstoves at the lack of producing creosote. We will be burning all 18% and under wood. Thanks.

My woodstove provides 95% of my heating needs so I try not to have it "down" for very long.

I sweep monthly. Honestly, I don't have to . . . but I choose to do so. 1) Because it's quick and easy for me as I do it outside from the ground so it is literally a 10-15 minute job. 2) Because I advocate at least inspecting the chimney monthly and I figure if I'm inspecting it I might as well also clean it. 3) Because if I ever had a chimney fire and the guys at work found out I would never hear the end of it since I am the Public Education Officer . . . basically THE Safety Guy.

Burning at the proper temps with well seasoned wood . . . you would probably be able to get away with a sweep at the start of each season and sometime in the middle of the burning season. Again . . . I still encourage folks to check their chimneys monthly . . . you never know . . . you might not be burning as cleanly as you think and a quick 5-minute inspection at 10 a.m. on a sunny Saturday always beats that 15-minute wait after you've called the Fire Department at 2 in the morning when you've woken up to the sound of a 747 about to take off in your chimney.

So how do I do it . . . and still keep the place warm? Simple. I sweep first thing in the morning after an overnight fire. Typically, for me, there are still some coals and the chimney is still warm, but it's not hot enough to melt my poly brush. Since this is an outside chimney I remove three screws, take off the cap, run the brush up through the chimney, pull the brush back down, fasten the cap back on and then go in and clean up and reload the stove. Obviously, this may or may not work for some folks depending on how they sweep the chimney and if they have to take apart their chimney to do so.

 

[AnalogKid]

If you are burning good and hot, which you likely will be if this is your primary heat source, I see no reason to have to sweep mid-season.

I burn 4 1/2 full cord during burn season. When I swept a month ago to get ready for this year, I bet I didn't produce more than a measuring cup of fine white ash dust. Absolutely zero creosote.

I like to get up and inspect everything, cap, flue, chimney, etc., so sweeping is a non-event, but it certainly wasn't necessary.

I suppose if your chimney height is something like 30'+ then there may be a little more concern due to cooling up top, but if not, I'd just be sure to burn hot and sweep once your burn season is over.

Only my opinion of course.

 

[smokedragon]

Burning an old insert from the 70's I swept my 26 foot liner once per year. There was some creosote at the top, but not enough to cause a massive chimney fire. With the new stove, I suspect that I will have no issue. I will not sweep until the end of the burning season, and I anticipate very little coming from the liner this year.

If you want to sweep that often, be my guest. I have seen people go 5+years between sweeps and have little creosote come out (but a decent amount of ash). I chose to sweep yearly. I don't think I will ever burn enough to feel the need to sweep more regularly. Of course, I have to do a lot more work to sweep too.

 

[BrotherBart]

For a first season I advocate a monthly inspection to see how fast things accumulate and give you an idea of how you are burning. Up until last season I would sweep the liners at the beginning and then the middle of the season. Last year I skipped the mid-season and had no more than I would have had if I had swept it twice. Just a little more that had fallen back down on top of the baffle.

So I am now a once a season guy.

 

[bholler]

I second barts post first year or 2 inspect it often but once a year cleaning is good for most people. But some need more some need less you will just have to see with your setup. I dont know anything about your stove but cookstoves in general are not the cleanest burning stoves around

 

[Dix]

For a first season I advocate a monthly inspection to see how fast things accumulate and give you an idea of how you are burning. Up until last season I would sweep the liners at the beginning and then the middle of the season. Last year I skipped the mid-season and had no more than I would have had if I had swept it twice. Just a little more that had fallen back down on top of the baffle.

So I am now a once a season guy.

What BB said.

Clogged my chimney in 4 months the first year (thought I had seasoned firewood, oh so NOT !!).

My chimneys are getting done this coming Sunday. The first time since last fall,

If your fire wood supply is at 18% or so, that's a plus. You still have the learning curve of the stove to go through. But it'll be easier than most.

Welcome to the forums, in case I missed you !!

 

[Laurent Cyr]

I start to burn when it gets cold here in Québec. It can be September, like it can be November. I`ve had a gfew fires, but habven`t started burning full time. Last year I went through over 10 cords of wood and started burning in September. I swept in January, during a week where we had warmer than usual températures. I then swept late August. I hardly get any soot or creosote.
However, the first year I burned, either my wood wasn`t dry enough, or I needed to work on my burn method. I had some creosote at the top of my chimney. With the years, I see less and less of that stuff.
So I suggest you keep an eye on your chimney, at least once in the middle of the winter.

 

[Bubbas Boys]

Thanks a lot guy. I will with No question, check it out on regular basis. Our set up is 5 ft of double wall stove pipe in the house and 11 ft of class A pipe going through attic. Straight shot up!

 

[Cynnergy]

Definitely keep an eye on the chimney regularly, especially if you have the water coil/reservoir in the cookstove. That can cool down the flue gases a lot and lead to more creosote in the chimney.

 

[Seanm]

Measure each scrub and document it and the details around it. You may need to scrub 3 times a year or one. My advice is to listen to your gut and scrub when you get twitchy. I clean three times a year even though I know I can get away with less. I used to have a smoke dragon back in the day and thats what I would do.... three times a year and never had a chimney fire. Now I moisture meter the crap out of my wood and dry it like its nobodys business and am on year three of a epa stove and still scrub three times a year (I burn a bit in June and start my first fire in August). Safe is safe.

 

[Bubbas Boys]

Nope, no water tank. Thank again!!