treesrgreat
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Is there something that can be used other than the commercial products to help keep creosote flakey and lose in the chimney?
Thanks.
Thanks.
A scoop of TSP on a hot fire will soften the hard creosote and make it fall off the flue lining.
A brush will finish the cleaning .
TSP can be found in the Paint Dept at LOWES, Painters use it to clean greasy walls prior to painting.
The only drawback is when I use it, it makes my cigar taste funny. :biggrin:
Does the aluminum can completely burn/melt?
Thanks.
..It looks like creosote is slightly acidic and the goal is to produce a basic reactant which will form a neutral salt in the chimney.
Thanks for the info so far. Yes, we do season our split firewood. One of our favorites is ash. It splits good, dries good. We also use some oak, maple, walnut, and on a good day I 'll find some red elm.
We harvest our wood in the fall when the tree has gone into its winter mode. We dry our split wood for at least two summers out in the open where it is stacked on pallets in single rows on a hill top for max exposure to the sun and breezes.
We do use a creosote remover product that you spinkle on top of the fire, and it has been doing a good job of the small build up we get. It keeps it loose/flakey for easy sweeping of the chimney. I have wondered what the active ingredient is in that stuff. Anyone know?
I have of heard TSP and aluminum cans, but I haven't tried them. Does the aluminum can completely burn/melt?
We have a Daka wood furnace, and it does a good job for the most part, but I wonder how efficient of a stove it is.?? I have heard of other brands of wood furnaces that's 80% plus efficient, but I can't recall what brands. What would be a better wood furnace? We are heating a 30 X 30 house that is insulated good with the wood furnace in the basement. We heat the main floor and upstairs too with the wood heat.
Thanks.
For those of you that use TSP, how much do you add when you use it?
Thanks.
Interesting. If that is the case, baking soda (a salt, and slightly alkaline) sounds like it might fit the bill. Anyone tried this?
We have some build up, and I just wish to keep it in check. Last year we didn't have much build up at all, I swept chimney once or twice. The year before, (our first year of burning)I was on the roof sweeping the chimney every 3 weeks. I had to due to the fact our wood simply wasn't as seasoned as it should have been. Now, this being our 3rd year our wood is better seasoned. We monitor the flue pipe from the wood furnace by simply flicking it with our finger. A hallow sound is good. If it sounds solid, I sweep down chiimney and sweep out the flue pipes going to the chimney. Our chimney is square brick with a clay liner in it. Do they build up creosote more than a stainless steel one due to its shape and that it is brick?? When I do sweep it, it is lose and flakey for the most part. I have run out of commercial creosote destroyer and that is what prompted this topic. Where I used to get it they are discontinuing it. So we are going to try the TSP.With such excellent seasoned wood, how in God's name are you getting creosote build up in the first place? I've been burning the same quality wood for four years, and my father for forty years. All we ever got out of the chimney when we clean it twice a year was maybe a couple cups (measuring cups) full of dry, powdery soot. And most of it is at the bottom of the chimney in the clean out before we ever run the brush up and down it.
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