how often do you clean your stove pipe??

Anonymous-0 · Apr 21, 2012

We have a chimney sweeper 3 times a year, but I the short pipe from the stove to the wall (30 inches total with a 90 degree bend) hasn't been touched since we put in the stove 7 years ago. Never gave it any thought because we always burn the stove hot. Been smelling smoke off and on the last few months and got worse lately. Took the pipe off today and there was a hole thru all the crusty suit about an inch and a half in diameter to let smoke out... I's a little smarter now :roll:

jddriver · Apr 21, 2012

stem to stern twice a year

gtractorfan · Apr 21, 2012

Depends on the setup. My dad ran his shop stove HOT-- glowing red at times- and never touched the chimney for decades (other than a soot clean out door at the bottom of the brick chimney) and never had a problem. I have a woodstove and I have 2 fans blowing at it so the stove pipe's never nearly as hot as his was, I brush it once a month while it's in use- it's easy to get to. Having a hired chimney sweep 3 times a year sounds expensive, but not as bad as the possible result of a chimney fire.

retired farmer · Apr 21, 2012

You ever seen a chimney fire, you would quit burning wood altogether. Sounds like you are standing behind a jet engine on takeoff.

WJD · Apr 21, 2012

Cleaning interval depends on what kind and how dry of wood you are burning. When we had an indoor stove (outdoor furnace now) we bought thin gauge pipe to aid in heat transfer and changed it out every other year. Heavier stove pipes will last longer but you loose heat.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 21, 2012

(quoted from post at 10:06:07 04/21/12) Having a hired chimney sweep 3 times a year sounds expensive, but not as bad as the possible result of a chimney fire.

No choice.... There is, but not a choice you'd want....
Costs a hundred bucks a year then fire insurance is reasonable. No sweep, no insurance......

Zachary Hoyt · Apr 21, 2012

I check ours every time I sweep the chimney, on the one stove the
pipe comes straight out the top of the stove into a metal chimney
and straight out the roof so it is all one run.
Zach

JayinNY · Apr 21, 2012

I clean my chimminy and stove pipe 1-2 times a year.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 21, 2012

On that note: Wy dad had a coal furnace in the basement, a couple times a year he would put a piece of rubber tire in the fire to "Blow the flues". Yep lot of noise with fire out the top of the chemney. Don't try this at home!!

Charlie M · Apr 21, 2012

I clean my about once a month when running it full time. I have a ranch house so its easy to get up there and clean the chimney. I can't run my stove hot all the time so I get more creosote than someone who runs hotter.

ohiojim · Apr 21, 2012

on mine it's the pipe beween the furnace and the stack that plugs up,..i also don't understand why....it's the hottest part,.. clean usually 3 times a winter

Anonymous-0 · Apr 21, 2012

Just started a fire and it's like a brand new setup.... Almost instant heat and the fire is burning like crazy....

Anonymous-0 · Apr 21, 2012

(quoted from post at 11:43:38 04/21/12) on mine it's the pipe beween the furnace and the stack that plugs up,..i also don't understand why....it's the hottest part,.. clean usually 3 times a winter

same one here, just explained it different........

Brian G. NY · Apr 21, 2012

I check my chimney once a year in the fall before heating season.
I have an air tight box stove in the basement which I use sporadically throughout the winter.
I usually get about a 2 gallons of soot out of that flue.
I have a Hearthstone soapstone in the living room which I burn 24/7 all winter long.
The furnace rarely ever comes on except to heat the water.
I just completed my 6th full season with the Hearthstone.
I have not cleaned the flue for that stove in all those 6 years.
I am simply amazed at how clean it burns.
I have an outside double flue chimney which runs from the basement to 3 ft above the peak of my 2 story house. Not the ideal chimney situation! I am serious about burning only totally seasoned hardwood and I am a firm believer in bringing the stove up to at least 400 degrees before "dampering" it down and I like to run it at 450 - 500 deg. as much as possible.
My favorite wood is hop hornbeam (ironwood) but I also burn red and white oak, maple, ash and occasionally hickory or yellow birch.
I am fortunate in that I have a little over 50 acres of woodlot. I rarely ever have to cut a live tree. For me, burning wood is a no-brainer; I save enough in fuel each year to treat the wife and I to a nice 2 week vacation in the carribean each winter. Unfortunately, I burn as much fuel (LP gas) during that 2 weeks as I do the rest of the winter. LOL

36 Coupe · Apr 21, 2012

Heres what a fellow told me.He cleaned the stove pipe once a month when he was growing up.I do about the same.You better smarten up.

Tim in OR · Apr 21, 2012

My folks used to heat with wood using a wood stove hooked to a tripple wall pipe straight from the top of the stove thru the ceiling and roof. Dad had heard of the horors of chimney fires, so he would brush it once a week. That was probably over kill because he burned dunnage 2X6"s that he brought home from work. All went well till Mom smelled smoke late at night. The pipe had burned out where the pipe went thru the vaulted ceiling and roof. That made it a house fire. After the cleanup, the stove got moved to the shop with a masonry chimney to keep the frost off when dad had time out there. I now have a distrust for metal pipe over a couple years old.
Tim in OR

Billy NY · Apr 21, 2012

I inspect mine periodically, from the 90 deg turn above the wood stove and the horizontal through the concrete wall to the base of the flue, which is 8"x12" adjacent to a 24" x 24" flue for the fireplace upstairs. I have another one of those large flues, 24" x 24" and another 8" x 12" for the oil fired furnace. Furnace one gets swept as needed, furnace is serviced annually, late model, efficient, not much soot. Those large fireplace flues never got any creosote build up over the years when in use. I mostly use the stove now and every time I inspect it, there is no creosote build up at all, in effect I don't have much to clean, what little there is flakes off over the summer, and I clean the base of the flue out, maybe a coffee can full of soot.

Dry wood, keeping the flue temperature hot enough, seems to do it, even when I had wood with moisture, not green, but not as dry as I wanted, never any trouble either, now I'm able to get that wood done on time so moisture will not be an issue. I have hot cycled it, usually not by choice, that dry wood, and its oak, maple, black cherry, elm, buckthorn, apple etc., small diameter stuff will take off, sounds like a blast furnace, draft is excellent, pipe will get red hot, so when starting a fire, I do not load too much, this old Ashley 25-HFR , throws heat instantly.

If I had smaller flues, through combustible wall penetrations, I'd probably inspect monthly, I have a clean out on the horizontal above the stove, just pull the cap of, shine some light, can inspect any time, does give you some "peace of mind" and know there are no problems.

RLA · Apr 21, 2012

Dry Wood, Burning Hot.. I clean it at the begining
of the season. Remove , inspect the 6" stainless
from the Clayton air tight furnace to the 8"x12"
flue. I am lucky to get 2 gallons of creasote when
when I clean it... I burn it 24/7.. It is possible
I don"t know for sure, But Red Tractors can cause
a a built up & plugged flue.. )))))

Anonymous-0 · Apr 21, 2012

Sounds like you need a new chimney sweep.

showcrop · Apr 21, 2012

If you burn your stove correctly you never need to clean it. That is not to say that you don't need to stick a mirror in the flue periodically to check your work until you get good at it. The fellow who was fire chief here for thirty-five years always said you need to have a "friendly" chimney fire every day by burning the stove hot enough so that the fire will carry up the flue and burn any creosote out.

JohnS1970 · Apr 21, 2012

Used to clean them twice a year until wind took the raincap off about ten years ago. Never cleaned them since. Usually have to install new pipes and elbow in the fall due to rain coming down during the summer but the Selkirk is always as clean as a whip.

tjdub · Apr 21, 2012

> The fellow who was fire chief here for thirty-five years always said you need to have a "friendly" chimney fire every day by burning the stove hot enough so that the fire will carry up the flue and burn any creosote out.

That's how mine works

. I take the stove pipe off every fall to clean the fly-ash out, though. I sweep the chimney 2-3 times per year. Weather permitting, I always try to sweep it right before a cold snap because if you're going to have a chimney fire it's going to be when it's 20 below and your stove starts drafting like a jet engine.

Paul from MI · Apr 22, 2012

Once a month. Had the chimney rerlin ed with stainless last year, supposedly lifetime guarantee and it cleans easy. My wood's been dried for three years so don't get more than a few quarts of soot.

Texasmark1 · Apr 22, 2012

Annually. I have 8" ID triple wall pipe with the inner liner being
SSteel and the pipe is vertical and about 15' long. I have a wire
brush on a variable length rod and it works great. Takes longer
to find the brush and the ladder then it does do the job.

Also, I burn only seasoned oak and have very little creosote
buildup. I wait till fall of the year, just before using and by then
what creosote there is has dried and cracked up and comes off as
a dry power which I clean out of my stove just like you would
ashes.

Mark

Brian G. NY · Apr 22, 2012

I guess I didn't address the original question!
I clean the stovepipe when it needs it.....
I have never seen the stove pipe creosote up before the chimney!
It is easy to tap on the stove pipe to determine whether or not there is any creosote build-up.
Now, maybe back in the old (old) days when they ran the pipe up through the unheated second floor and 20 feet over to the chimney there would be a problem with creosote but back then there was no such thing as air-tight stoves so
the stack temperatures were much higher.

36 Coupe · Apr 22, 2012

There is no such thing as an air tight stove.You couldnt have a fire in it.Cook stoves are prone to plugging the stove pipe because they extract a lot of heat and have a cool stove pipe.

Brian G. NY · Apr 22, 2012

Neither could you have a "wood" stove; it would burn up. LOL
I"ve had lots of experience with a Kalamazoo cook stove. I agree they are designed to extract a lot of heat. They put out lots of heat for a short time but the wood box is so small they have to be fed often. When you close the damper, the heat and smoke is diverted around the perimeter of the oven which heats the oven but cools the smoke and can result in creosote buildup. The plus side is, a lot of the creosote is easily cleaned from the portal below the oven.
As with any stove, dry wood reduces problems with creosote.

how often do you clean your stove pipe??

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