Hello,
I moved into a rental cottage in Cape Breton for the winter with an old Vigilant. Have never owned a wood stove but have used them in annual wintertime 2-week rentals for years...but this is the first time I'm doing something long-term (4 months) since I was a kid in the suburbs with a fireplace. After a few days with the stove I realized I had a lot to learn, and this site has been extremely helpful in achieving consistent behavior (and making me a bit obsessive!).
Because of the late timing of my living arrangements I could not get dry wood ordered - have 3 cords of mixed species split in December stacked in the sun and considerable wind. The owner (who is only here 1 month a year in the summer) had 1/3 cord left of some very aged rounds of birch and pine stacked; half are good dry stuff and the other half are rotten inside their skins. Aside from this have about half a cord of very dry larch staves that I had the local handyman who looks after the place chain saw for me. I'll mix the dry with the not dry and get through the season that way.
I have been going through the learning curve for about 3 weeks now and once I realized I'd spent many of those days burning overnights too cool became concerned about creosote buildup with my mixed burning techniques/fuels. I am a "girl scout" and tend to over-prepare for the worst-case scenario, especially as it's ruralsville here so an out-of-control chimney fire is not likely to get professional help inside of 25 minutes. Ordered a Chimfex and a package of Mecco red devil Fireex, and a couple of pounds of baking soda in a plastic bag are here in the meantime.
I asked the handyman (a lifetime local who also happened to renovate this house for the owner) to check out the chimney and he's coming tomorrow with brushes assuming our typical 30-50mph winds die down for a bit. I've read on other threads (link:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/cleaning-and-sweeping-your-own-stove-and-chimney.45585/
that it's possible to this sweep this setup top down and if the bypass damper is OPEN the detritus will just accumulate in the box and on the damper shelf where it can be removed by hand. But any tips on removing without making a huge dusty mess? Apparently this chimney's never been swept
so there could be considerable crud (5+ year's worth).
Vig sits in the middle of an open 20x25 living/dining/kitchen. Around 22' of 6" diameter pipe straight up through 2nd floor and attic (covered with 2" SS insulation from 2nd floor upwards). There is a flue damper (open, I never use it), but otherwise, no known obstructions. I have not experienced any draft problems, even on a rare still day but chimney cap area is black as iron. Tenants here the last two years are friends who burned daily with dry wood with no problems, but they're also the ones who joked about my upcoming chimney fire burning the green wood...
Thanks
I moved into a rental cottage in Cape Breton for the winter with an old Vigilant. Have never owned a wood stove but have used them in annual wintertime 2-week rentals for years...but this is the first time I'm doing something long-term (4 months) since I was a kid in the suburbs with a fireplace. After a few days with the stove I realized I had a lot to learn, and this site has been extremely helpful in achieving consistent behavior (and making me a bit obsessive!).
Because of the late timing of my living arrangements I could not get dry wood ordered - have 3 cords of mixed species split in December stacked in the sun and considerable wind. The owner (who is only here 1 month a year in the summer) had 1/3 cord left of some very aged rounds of birch and pine stacked; half are good dry stuff and the other half are rotten inside their skins. Aside from this have about half a cord of very dry larch staves that I had the local handyman who looks after the place chain saw for me. I'll mix the dry with the not dry and get through the season that way.
I have been going through the learning curve for about 3 weeks now and once I realized I'd spent many of those days burning overnights too cool became concerned about creosote buildup with my mixed burning techniques/fuels. I am a "girl scout" and tend to over-prepare for the worst-case scenario, especially as it's ruralsville here so an out-of-control chimney fire is not likely to get professional help inside of 25 minutes. Ordered a Chimfex and a package of Mecco red devil Fireex, and a couple of pounds of baking soda in a plastic bag are here in the meantime.
I asked the handyman (a lifetime local who also happened to renovate this house for the owner) to check out the chimney and he's coming tomorrow with brushes assuming our typical 30-50mph winds die down for a bit. I've read on other threads (link:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/cleaning-and-sweeping-your-own-stove-and-chimney.45585/
that it's possible to this sweep this setup top down and if the bypass damper is OPEN the detritus will just accumulate in the box and on the damper shelf where it can be removed by hand. But any tips on removing without making a huge dusty mess? Apparently this chimney's never been swept
so there could be considerable crud (5+ year's worth).Vig sits in the middle of an open 20x25 living/dining/kitchen. Around 22' of 6" diameter pipe straight up through 2nd floor and attic (covered with 2" SS insulation from 2nd floor upwards). There is a flue damper (open, I never use it), but otherwise, no known obstructions. I have not experienced any draft problems, even on a rare still day but chimney cap area is black as iron. Tenants here the last two years are friends who burned daily with dry wood with no problems, but they're also the ones who joked about my upcoming chimney fire burning the green wood...
Thanks
![[Hearth.com] Vigilant straight chimney cleanout into the box - need a shop vac?](/talk/data/attachments/153/153054-752c3bb086db1e92263a914bf423de75.jpg?hash=lKUtsIPeyh)
![[Hearth.com] Vigilant straight chimney cleanout into the box - need a shop vac?](/talk/data/attachments/153/153055-0656545e2a7d91ab7863e9cfc51de08d.jpg?hash=0eaEwF6Itf)
