Sweeping Schedule for Less than Ideal Burning

[Walt_85]

I have a Lopi Republic 1750i insert, about 15ft of chimney, and a mix of white & red oak, sweetgum, and maple that all measure in the 14% - 22% moisture range.

The less than ideal part is that, for various reasons, I can only build one fire a day and I'm always starting from a cold stove. I know that ideally the stove would be kept going throughout the day, but that just isn't feasible right now.

I cleaned my chimney before the first fire of the season on Veteran's Day.

My startup process consists of a top-down structure with 2-3 smallish splits on the bottom, 2-3 very small splits, about 4 red oak kindling peices, 2-3 quarter inch kindling pieces of 40 year old split pine, and 3 very small slivers of 40 year old fat lighter topped with balled up newspaper to get the draft going.That burns for an hour or so, then I pull the coals toward the front and load the box full with the aformentioned mix of cord wood.

So, with that startup process being done each day, and the fire burning completely out and the stove going cold each day, I'm looking for opinions on how often the chimney needs to be swept during a burning season.

Thanks for the help!

 

[gzecc]

Your wood is very dry. As long as you achieve a nice hot fire each time. You shouldn't be overly concerned. How hot do you get your set up?

 

[BobUrban]

Your wood is great - burn hot, fear little and do a mid-season check on a nice day I Jan/Feb - all good!

 

[Walt_85]

Thanks for the reply gzecc. The startup top-down set up burns with the air full open and will usually pull the stove up to around 300. Then the full load goes in and I reduce the air a little at a time until the stove cruises at 500 or so. One caveat, I'm using stove top thermometers instead of pipe because this is an insert. I have a TruTel on one corner and a Rutland on the other. They usually agree with each other if the Rutland has time to catch up as the TruTel seems to be more sensitive.

 

[Walt_85]

I appreciate the reply Bob, seems like maybe I'm over thinking this a bit. Never been accused of that before

 

[BobUrban]

better safe than sorry - I checked mine monthly the first season and thankfully it was a rather mild winter with lots of warm days. I clean from the inside by taking the telescoping stove pipe out. I discovered zero issues and thankfully felt comfortable burning all of last winter without a peek. Got a cup of dust when I swept it in the spring.

Sure helps you sleep at night when you know what is going on in there