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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 4 Dec 2010 07:05am - Edited by: SE Ohio
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I purchased my ~8 year old cabin in the late summer, and decided to check the stove pipe prior to the first fire. I'm glad I did!
I'm not sure how they could get smoke to exhaust. It explains why the smoke detector batteries were removed.
The creosote was quite brittle and easy to remove. A mild thump on the pipe started an avalanche. There is a "T" with a removeable cap on the outside, and it all got cleaned out. Later I made a good hot fire, followed up by a "chimney sweep" log.
I'll be sure and inspect these pipes regularly.
Although the previous owner had pretty much hardwood only to burn, I think most of the wood consumed was somewhat rotten and did not burn hot enough to prevent this buildup. All the remaining firewood on the site is a bit soft/lightweight for oak and hickory. Future firewood cut will be stored off the ground and covered. The rotten stuff will be burned outdoors only.
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CabinBuilder
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# Posted: 5 Dec 2010 01:30pm
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Thanks for the info and picture, SE Ohio.
Does it really has that bright blue color or it's just the way in came out on the photo?
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 6 Dec 2010 07:28am
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I think it is just the camera/photo. It looked pretty darn black to me at the time!
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larryh
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# Posted: 7 Dec 2010 07:09pm
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It may have been the stove as well. Until I realized that a manual stove was the safest way to prevent creosote build up I always had fallen for the ad's of companies like Ashley and others that had a thermostatic control. While it may have lengthen the burn, it produced enormous amounts of creosote by cutting off nearly all the air supply to the fire. Now I only use manual controlled stove an watch to be sure I have a nice mild flame going even on the lowest setting. In two years time my flue which could clog in a matter of weeks with some automatic stoves I owned was nearly free of any build up. No more than a quart of fluff in the pipe after two years.
Some of those stoves were also EPA models which I wouldn't have suspected of creating any, but did.
Larry
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 8 Dec 2010 07:51am
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This is a "manual" woodburning stove. No thermostat. It is an older model stove, "Huntsman 4060" or something like that, and newer designs might be better at minimizing creosote.
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larryh
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# Posted: 8 Dec 2010 08:35am
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Personally that is not most likely correct. I have given a lot of thought to this new push for EPA rated stoves and it basically comes down to wood burning properly. So they put controls on them to try to keep the stove burning hotly, but that is quite easily done by a careful stove operator without expensive and restrictive rules.
The two factors that they try to control which have led to the tiny fire boxes and highly insulated stove walls is the having a hot fire, and on the other hand one that isn't too hot. So they restrict the amount of heat a stove will produce, at the same time trying to limit the low burn as well. You end up with stoves that need a lot of tinkering to get what they deem as optimum burning and from my experience produce less real usable heat in the home.
If a stove is making creosote that is the fault of either the wood, which a new stove will not correct, or the amount of air to the fire which again the stove owner should be able to control, the new stoves will not allow a stove to be turned down below a certain air in take so they can't be made to smolder. That is a point you don't want to run your stove at with either type of stove.
To me the most important factor I watch is the temperature of the chimney using those magnetic chimney pipe thermometers. I run my stove within the ranges suggested so as not to create a creosote problem and keep smoke to a minimum.
I suppose its possible that some poorly constructed older stoves may have design flaws which might tend to result in more creosote issues. Something I always thought was a good idea was the secondary air chamber such as Jotul and Morso used on earlier stoves. It turned out that although those additional passages may have helped provide a bit more heat from the stove, they also added to the build up of creosote due to the fire cooling as it passed though those portions. I was very surprised that even the updated Jotul Black Bear stove I purchased, which did a lousy job of heating due to all the insulation the EPA forced them to add to it. The secondary air chamber above the fire box contained a fair amount of creosote build up after only two months of operation and that was done with temperature readings well within the suggested operations and good wood.
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