creosote

[phil]

Just wondering about creosote , how to prevent it building up.

Its a bit hard to experiment as the accumulation takes time. sometimes I have fires that are for example a piece of hardwood that burns slowly, like embers and that seems to clean the chimney of soot, but it probably isnt' good to have a smoldering fire.

also types of wood seem to make a difference. I had some wood from a city tree, it was very hard to chop and I ended up putting larger peices of it in and to keep it going stacked wood that is more free burning.

Ive been burning a lot of fir from a big tree, It wasnt' seasoned but it seems dry enough. it has a lot of sap lines. some of the stuff burns so furiously because of the sap. Its great for starting fires but I'm wondering if the sap causes more creosote build up.

any tips on how to clean, other than the obvious wire brush and scraping tools? they have those logs you can buy in the supermarket but they seem ridiculously pricey for what they are.

Ive got the square wire brush thing so in the summer I plan to go up so I can pull it up and down with a chain since ill be up there doing roofing. I once hired a sweep and he had a little extendable brush or scraper tool and he scraped a bit but I guess it wasn't built up much. I just don't want to set up the conditions where I could have a chimney fire.

my fireplace works well so Ive been using it lots, its free burning , no doors or anything . I know choking the air causes it to build up quickly. wondering what others do to prevent it from building too fast.

Phil

[DRJR]

Clean the chimney on a regular basis. Burn seasoned wood.

Green wood and cold fires will build creosote fast. Try to avoid that.

[oldnhhomes]

Definitely burn only dry wood. If you can’t tell, try a moisture meter- look for about 20%. Smoldering fires and cold chimneys contribute to creosote. If you’re burning in a stove, there is such a thing as over firing, I’m not certain on open fireplaces, I imagine there’s a limit but it would be hard to reach.

You can burn soft and hardwoods as long as everything is dry. Softwoods burn a bit hotter and faster and are good for getting a place warmed up quickly. Hardwoods are good for long burns. You can mix the two.

[JacquieJet]

Agreed- burn well seasoned wood.
I find ash burns fairly cleanly. Maple, on the other hand, tends to build up a lot of creosote rather quickly, even if it is seasoned well.

[jharkin]

If you are interested in burning well, either join up or at least read a lot at hearth.com.

The answer is DRY wood. Not just what the guy on craigslist calls seasoned, but truly DRY. That means that if you can buy or borrow a prong type moisture meter, take a log and freshly resplit it then read the inside, it should be less than 20% moisture.

To get firewood dry like this it has to be cut, split and stacked in rows exposed to sun and wind for at least 2 full years (more if you live in a very wet rainy area) for average hardwoods like Maple and Ash. Really dense woods like Oak might need 3 years or more. Pine can be ready in a year. Contrary to what dealers will tell you wood doesn't dry in log form and doesn't dry heaped into a huge pile with no air circulation.

Once you have this dry wood, burn your fires HOT. You should have strong flames leaping up the flue and if you walk outside you should ideally see only heat waves and maybe a little white steam coming out of the chimney. Any time you see or smell thick grey smoke you are not burning hot enough.


Another urban myth is the idea that pine and cedar cause creosote. They dont, they just get the chimney fire reputation because people who burn smokey smoulding fires for years with wet hardwoods get their chimneys all gunked up, then they get some pine that burns hot and ignites hte creosote left over from all that wet oak. If you burn properly and keep your chimney clean its is 100% safe to burn pine indoors, I do all the time.

[GinaC]

I was just going to mention hearth.com! I spent a few days reading that site to see if I could put a wood stove insert in my old Heatilator fireplace. There is a wealth of information there.

And I learned on hearth.com about using only 2-3 year old hardwood. You have to let it sit in your own storage area to achieve that, however, since you really can't buy it.