Cleaning chimneys and fluepipe

Theowegian · Dec 11, 2005

Just wondering...

I burn wood for heat and a couple of years ago I replaced the flue pipe to the chimney pipe. The flue pipe is single wall heavy guage steel stove pipe about 8 ft long.

The chimney is double walled stainless pipe which goes from the basement thru the main floor of the house, thru the attic and finally thru the roof.

I clean the chimney once per year, but was wondering how often I should clean the flue (stove) pipe?

Every year or ????

Could a chimney fire start in the flue pipe first????

thanks, dwight

obtw, I burn all hardwoods, like ash, hedge, elm and never burn gummy woods like pine.

beenthere · Dec 11, 2005

I keep the chimney clean using a brush. I keep the connecting flue pipe clean by touching off some corrugated cardboard boxes and/or newspaper once a week to get that flue pipe 'hot' and burned out when I'm around and watching.
My theory is to keep it so a spark from a hot fire wont get that pipe going when I'm not around, and transferring it to the chimney. Worked good that way for several years.

arthr31 · Dec 12, 2005

Clean a minimum of once a year. I clean twice a year, but I burn anything I cut or get my hands on! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

flu/chimney fires can start anywhere there is a build-up of creosote. There's a product you may be able to buy at your local woodstove store called Anit-creosote. You can check out the company that makes that stuff at: www.chimneysaver.com

I would not recommend trying to initiatea flu fire to burn off the creosote. A super hot fire may result (in the flu/chimney) weakening the steel liner or damaging the morter in your chimney.... chimneys are for exhausting smoke and gases, not for having fires in... my .02 -art

scott_vt · Dec 12, 2005

Mornin Dwight,
As someone else stated, if your burning everything you get your hands on, you would have to pay attention to it more often. I have always burned the fire hot once a day usually inthe morning and that has kept the immediate pipe from the stove to the chimney pretty clean! Really minimum buildup, and nothing to be concerned about.

scotty

JimR · Dec 12, 2005

In all my years of burning wood I have never had a chinmey fire. Nor have I had to clean my chimney. Reason for this is that I burn a hot fire once a day to cook off any creosote that may form in my chimney. The pipe leading to my fireplace damper was the only pipe that needed cleaning. The deposits were minimal in the pipe. It got cleaned once a year but just standing it up and letting the residue fall out. The reason the residue collected there was because I had a damper in the pipe.

beenthere · Dec 12, 2005

( ............ Reason for this is that I burn a hot fire once a day to cook off any creosote that may form in my chimney. ....... )

IMO, this cannot happen. Getting the chimney hot enough to 'cook off' any creosote means a roaring fire, bordering on a chimney fire. Just my opinion, but I find the statement very misleading in case any 'newbie' wood burners are making notes. We can opt to disagree on this one. But I couldn't let it pass without comment. There may be other reasons that you don't have creosote in your chimney, but the 'hot fire once a day' isn't it. Sorry for the disagreement here. Not meant to offend the poster. Just not to mislead others. Every chimney/wood burner behaves differently to creosote build-up and routine to deal with it. It is one of the learning processes one goes through when burning wood. I've been burning wood to heat my home for over 30 years now (beginning 1973). I think I am still learning too.

billbill1 · Dec 12, 2005

I bought an Earth Stove (brand name) in 1978, it was one of the air tight models and it was recommended that you let the stove burn on high in the morning and at night. The thinking was that it would dry the creosote rather than leaving the gooey junk in the stove pipe. If my chimney gets dirty, it is at the top 3' below the cap. If mine is getting dirty, it will start smoking back some when I open the door to the furnace to load. I clean mine at least once a year and again if I start getting smoke back.

JimR · Dec 12, 2005

I must have had the perfect setup in my house. I heated my house with a Nashua N24 airtight woodstove from 1978-1995. The pipe went thru an 1/8" steel plate that blocked the fireplace opening and was sealed. I had a pipe extended up thru the damper about 6 inches. In 15+ years of burning wood all winter long. I never needed to clean my chimney with a brush. There was ash accummulated at the bottom of the fireplace. I did clean out my pipe as mentioned. I never once cleaned the chimney. Every morning when I came home from work. I would load the stove up and let it rip at 500-600 degrees. I never once had a chimney fire either. I now have a similar setup at the old farm next door but with a smaller stove. I took the damper out and replaced it with a 1/4" sheet of steel. I cut a rectangle into it to fit an adapter for my 6" stove pipe. Once a day this stove burns at 500-600 degrees for at least 20-30 minutes while I feed the chickens and what not. Then I bring the fire back down to around 300 degrees and get back to my work on the house. Another thing that needs mentioning here. If you burn wet or green wood. You will likley have a major problem with creosote. I burn dry wood that is seasoned. This is not mis-information. This is a proven fact for my house. After this year I'll know how the new setup at the old farm works. I am in the process of hooking up another stove at my house. I finished off the room where the fireplace and Nashua use to be. I can no longer have a stove in that confined area without overheating the room to well over 100 degrees. The wife doesn't want the stove in the house. She says it smells and makes her sick. 15+ years and now it makes her sick. Oh well. I will hook this monster up again somewhere and somehow. One other thing to mention. You cannot have a chimney fire unless you have an accummulation of creosote in the chimney to begin with. Burning it off everday prevents that from ever happening. Burning a hot enough fire prevents creosote from ever forming in your chimney. My deceased neighbors knew all about chimney fires. They were forever running a slow burn fire. They never listened to me and always had problems. You could hear the train a coming when their chimney lit up.

rancar · Dec 13, 2005

Hello Dwight,

I clean the chimney once per year, but was wondering how often I should clean the flue (stove) pipe?


Cleaning the stove pipe is dependent on how you use your wood stove. If the wood stove burns continuously, 24 hours a day there is less chance of creosote build-up. If you find yourself starting up the stove every day, let's say each evening after everyone in the house is gone for the day and the stove dies down, then there is a greater chance of creosote build-up. This latter scenario was my experience the last 18 years in which I found I had to clean the stove pipe about once a month. If the stove is burning continuously then you may likely get by once or twice a year. You know it's time to clean if you hear the creosote 'crackling' in the pipe after you fire up a stove from a cold condition.

Could a chimney fire start in the flue pipe first????


Yes, definitely. It happened to me twice when I was a novice wood burner and didn't pay much attention to cleaning the pipe. The creosote caught fire till the pipe was glowing red. Fortunately, I was home at the time. I immediately killed the fire in the stove and tried to cool the pipe by pouring cold water on it. The creosote eventually burned itself up and the pipe fire went out leaving quite a mess behind. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif The second incident involved an actual chimney fire where the creosote in the chimney's flue liner caught fire. This was a bit more frightening because apart from a roaring that sounded like a freight train coming through the house there were actual flames shooting from the top of the chimney. I was afraid the roof might catch on fire. Again, and fortunate for me, the fire burned itself out without incident. Since that first year of wood burning, I've religiously cleaned both the chimney liner and stove pipe and haven't had an incident since.

...Bob