Nuzzy
Trail Gnome
I've seen a couple threads similar, but didn't want to hijack them as this may be more application specific...
This will be our first Michigan winter in our new house. We moved in April of this year so we really only had a few days here and there of wood burning before the season ended. Most of the wood pile for this winter is Red Oak which unfortunately has only been seasoning since April/May 08. In any case, here is our wood furnace setup:
The chain on the damper goes to a servo which is controlled by a thermostat upstairs. The thermostat keeps the damper open if the house temp is below the setting and then closes the damper as the temp rises beyond. (Normally the helper spring just takes up slack in the chain but it is forcing the damper open in the above pics as I had just started a fire)
Now, since we've been burning since the first week of October, I've gotten the routine down where I can keep the fire going all day and all night as opposed to having it go out at night like when we first tried it out. However, I've noticed it's pretty much ALWAYS running in the completely dampered down position just smoldering away. I'm fine with that as it's very economical with the amount of wood used, but I worry about creosote building up excessively if it's always smoldering and never really blazing...
I plan to get a chimney brush and extensions, but should I be sweeping the chimney far more often than the usual once or so a year? With the characteristics of our setup, how often should I be sweeping...? ..and just how much IS too much creosote (visually)?
Now maybe it'll be moot once the really cold temps hit, but we've already had a number of days/nights in the upper 20s and 30s and the furnace stills keeps the house toasty constantly dampered down...
This will be our first Michigan winter in our new house. We moved in April of this year so we really only had a few days here and there of wood burning before the season ended. Most of the wood pile for this winter is Red Oak which unfortunately has only been seasoning since April/May 08. In any case, here is our wood furnace setup:
The chain on the damper goes to a servo which is controlled by a thermostat upstairs. The thermostat keeps the damper open if the house temp is below the setting and then closes the damper as the temp rises beyond. (Normally the helper spring just takes up slack in the chain but it is forcing the damper open in the above pics as I had just started a fire)
Now, since we've been burning since the first week of October, I've gotten the routine down where I can keep the fire going all day and all night as opposed to having it go out at night like when we first tried it out. However, I've noticed it's pretty much ALWAYS running in the completely dampered down position just smoldering away. I'm fine with that as it's very economical with the amount of wood used, but I worry about creosote building up excessively if it's always smoldering and never really blazing...
I plan to get a chimney brush and extensions, but should I be sweeping the chimney far more often than the usual once or so a year? With the characteristics of our setup, how often should I be sweeping...? ..and just how much IS too much creosote (visually)?
Now maybe it'll be moot once the really cold temps hit, but we've already had a number of days/nights in the upper 20s and 30s and the furnace stills keeps the house toasty constantly dampered down...