When to clean chimney for the first time?

[ecfinn]

Hey all,

Was wondering when I should look into getting the chimney cleaned for the first time? New Lopi Revere and full SS liner was installed late November. Probably been burning 24x7 for about 29 or 30 days since then. Been burning strictly ash that's been split and seasoned for about 12 months. I figure once I get it cleaned the first time it'll give me a good idea as to how often I'll need to do it after that. BTW, I'll be paying someone to do this since I don't do roofs and my chimney is in the center of my house.

Unless anyone knows of a way I can clean it from inside my insert. I'd have to get rods that would bend 90 degrees to get up past my damper bypass in the back of my insert. I don't want to buy some rods only to find out they won't work.

Thanks,

Eric

 

[begreen]

It will depend a bit on burning habits and comfort level. There are a lot of variables. If you are burning dry wood, hot with a central chimney, then there is a good chance that the stack is going to stay pretty clean, but it also depends on how much of the stack is exposed to the cold and how cold it is outside. For the first year of so, if you can find a good sweep that will just inspect and not clean unless necessary, then I would have an inspection after 2-3 months. If it's clean as a whistle, then it probably won't need it until end of burning season. If it's starting to accumulate creosote, then perhaps 3 month intervals? YMMV.

 

[Gooserider]

Estimates I've seen suggest around a month of steady burning for an initial cleaning, or 1-2 cords of wood. After that you can start spreading the timing out depending on what you find. Typical seems to be 1-2 cleanings per winter.

How is your insert installed? If you have a full liner it MAY be possible to clean from below. If you have a "stub" install, then you will probably have to pull the insert at least once a year to get what goes down between the pipe and the chimney wall (one reason full liners are reccomended)

Gooserider

 

[colsmith]

I would suggest you could wait at least two months from the start before the first test cleaning. If your wood is dry then I can't see how you would have a problem before that. Even if you were doing something wrong it shouldn't be trouble that quickly. We cleaned our chimney a couple weeks ago after using it 2 months this season, didn't get much out of it and will probably wait until a warm March day to do it again. We don't mind roofs much. My best advice is to be sure you use a chimney sweep that someone else recommends (ask at a stove store if you don't know anybody else to ask) and/or make sure the sweep belongs to some professional organization. We hired almost the first reasonably priced guy we could find (lots of sweeps in my county went out of business last year, no idea why, lots of phone calls to disconnected numbers) and it was such a horrible mistake! He did an awful job, we had to disassemble our stovepipe (which he didn't do!) see the mess, and have him come back and clean out the gunk blocking the stove itself, that he had pushed in there. What a doofus. Anybody with a ladder and brushes can call themselves a chimney sweep, sad but true.