Wood Stove-Creosote reducing logs

[Mckie Hollow]

Do these things actually work? Are there other home remedies? I've heard of burning an aluminum can will help clean the creosote out. Is this true?

[Lazermule]

I always use a couple of aluminum cans each week.  Seems to work..

Lazer

[Mckie Hollow]

Thanks - I can try this. Seems I can find some, but with the new NYS proposal- beverages may be taxed @ a much higher rate.

[torpedoman]

ace hardware has little tube of stuff for 2 bucks or less that does the same thing a lot cheaper.

[Lazermule]

Thanks - I can try this. Seems I can find some, but with the new NYS proposal- beverages may be taxed @ a much higher rate.

Huh?  Like how much?  Is that a Hillary tax?

[Mckie Hollow]

Not sure Who proposed the tax on returnables, but it came from the new Gov.. So I've heard, it Sounds like beer and soda, but not diet soda. Can't see how they can do that.

[Mckie Hollow]

Thanks- I'll look into Ace, Today. There's one close by.

[DDelle338]

  I did alot of research into these "Clean Sweep", and "Chimney Sweep" logs and they DO NOT work. There was recent court proceedings and independent lab tests around the claims of one of the companies and the result was that the company was banned from making any claims that it cleaned, help clean, reduced chimney fire risks, or just about any claims for any action that we might want this log for.
  Bottom Line,,,,,, There is NO Substitute for mechanical cleaning. Period.

[buffermop]

I've heard from old time Maine residents who used to burn potato peels in their stove. It did the same thing.

[oldandslow]

Rutland Products makes Professional Strength Cresote Remover in a spray bottle for airtight woodstoves and fireplace inserts and it works if you use it regularly. Spray in on your wood when you build a fire and give each chunk you put on the fire a little squirt. You can hear the creasote breaking loose and falling down the chimney.

My Earth Stove has a baffle that it falls on and if you don't dump the creasote off of it regularly it will catch on fire. Not fun. I just scrub the chimney out regulary and don't take a chance.

[Mckie Hollow]

I agree that there is no substitute for a proper cleaning. I was just looking for a maintenance thing which could cut down on the trips up on the roof. Potatoe peels - That's new to Me, have a lot of friends in Maine, I'll have to check this out.

[torpedoman]

  I did alot of research into these "Clean Sweep", and "Chimney Sweep" logs and they DO NOT work. There was recent court proceedings and independent lab tests around the claims of one of the companies and the result was that the company was banned from making any claims that it cleaned, help clean, reduced chimney fire risks, or just about any claims for any action that we might want this log for.
  Bottom Line,,,,,, There is NO Substitute for mechanical cleaning. Period.

I used the product from ace and it made a big difference in how much build up there was between cleanings, yep no matter what you use you still gotta clean it out.

[dutch7373]

The stuff in the Ace and Rutland creosote remover is trisodium phosphate. One can buy a 4.5# box full from most homecenters and paint stores a LOT cheaper.

[JBlk]

I had a fellow in his eighties that his Mother always kept a bucket of potato peeling next to her stove in case of a chimney fire.He said that if a fire started she would throw the peelings in the firebox and the fire would go out.I had a free standing masonry chimney that always ran too cold because I failed to insulate it.It made creosote by the bucket full.One spring when I cleaned it I took a coffee can full of the creosote and tried to ignite it with my cutting torch.I was not successful in doing so, even with the flame a few inches from the creosote.This was the black glazed type, and I was sure that it would light.I know that when a creosote fire does take off its a frightening experience and it sounds like a jet airplane starting.

[Cornbelt]

I send a few bottle rockets up mine on occassion; the kind that go bang. And if there is a starling roosting on top of the chimney, tough luck.

[Mikey]

Well, let's see:  the ny goernor has proposed a 18% tax increase on all beverages that are not 'diet' beverages, and that includes straight Coke a Cola, Pepsi, etc.  And beer and wine.  He hasn't proposed an increase on the containers, just the content.  Seems ny kids are too fat and since parents in this state cannot parent well enough to keep their kids away from fat producing stuff the government has to take over and tax fat producing stuff beyond the reach of many.  Typical of communists don't you think???

Creosote:  pita but always there.  If you burn properly seasoned hardwoods you will minimize your creosote build-up but if you burn pine and other softwoods you will get much more creosote building up in your chimney.  If you run a airtight stove you should run it hot twice a day, morning and evening.  That helps burn out the (smaller amounts)creosote that built up in the interim and it helps decrease the overall amount of creosote building up.  If you run a airtight stove low or cool you will get lots of creosote. 

I used to clean my chimney one a year after burning season.  If I burned a lot of pine or softwood I could get as much as a 5 gallon bucket full of creosote chips (chimney is about 25').  If I burned a lot of hardwood and ran the stove hot twice a day I would get half the amount.  In either case I didn't think I had inordinate or dangerous amounts of creosote build-up and I could always toss it on a open fire later and it would just burn up and disappear. 

If you have a proper chimney, either a 3 layer stainless steel chimney or a flue brick surrounded by concrete block chimney then even a flue fire is little more than a bit of a noisy spectacle and not really dangerous.  I had one or two with my Vermont Castings Defiant and when we went outside to see what was going on I realized I need not have worried (so much) about the house burning down or sparks catching - I never saw buring creosote chips blowing up out of the chimney and landing on the roof.  I would see sparks coming from the chimney but they were being blown up and out and died out before they stopped climbing. 

A good cleaning once a year should keep your stove running properly, your chimney functioning without dangerous or obstuctive build-up and your place nice and toasty.  jmtcw.  Mikey.

[bluecow]

potato peals work.  once you know that the darn thing is clean!  let the fire roar each morning that will keep cerasote down about as well as anyting.

[cybin]

You may think that I'm crazy, but when I lived in North Carolina I used to burn green oak, and had very little to clean out of my chiminey. I had the fire burning hot --but it needed to run hot becouse it wouldn't burn otherwise. The green oak burned longer, hotter and with less build up than when I burned dried oak.

Of course pine, popular, and soft maple will always leave a pretty good build up in the chiminey. I had a masonary chiminey that drew pretty good as well. I cleaned the chiminey during the winter --usually around the first or second week in Janruary there is usually a warm period of a few days to a week, and again in the fall before using the wood stove. Green oak worked great for me.

cybinv

[The Hermit]

My wood cookstove with the warming oven over head never makes creosote, but my double barrel stove does unless I make a real hot fire in it every other day and get the stack temp up to 450* F.
The creosote turns to powder and drops in the top barrel and I remove it through the clean out door.
I have a 16' long rod with a brush that I run up the pipe through the clean out door so I don't have to make a trip up on the steel roof anymore. Good hot fire does the trick for me.