No Grate - NO Creosote

[LazyJ]

This has boggled my mind. For twelve years I've cleaned the pipe on my old large non-epa insert MONTHLY having had a couple chimney fires early on in my first couple of years of ignorant usage. And every month I get at least a quart or maybe two of black/nasty out of the 28' double wall SS pipe, burning dry wood but usually running it choked way down.

Last month after cleaning (1.5 quarts) I had a wild hair and removed the cast iron grate that I've used in it forever and built the fire directly on the firebrick. I immediately noticed much less wood usage, longer burn times, and a warmer house. Today was time for its monthly cleaning and I was unable to brush a dang thing outta the pipe!?!

Knowing what a chimney cap looks like after a chimney fire I'm confident the creosote didn't get burned out. I'm still feeding from the same big post oak I was burning last month. The only factor that has changed at all from last month was the removal of the grate.

I'm thrilled but puzzled with what could be the mechanics to have such a minor change cause such drastic positive results?

 

[Hlakegollum]

I haven't used a grate in years.

 

[Split this!]

I had an old non EPA stove for years and burned on the brick with a bed of ash and still had to clean the pipe monthly!! I would get a gallon or two of the black nasty s! I only burned cured wood also. I'm glad your getting such good results with the minor change. I finally swapped to an EPA stove, it has the secondary burn tubes in the top of the fire box and I'm telling you, I've only had to clean my pipe twice so far, and it wasn't that bad, I guess old pipe cleaning habits are hard to brake! Happy New Year! Split

 

[Wood Doctor]

Firebrick. Who needs it?

I think the two best stoves I have ever fueled are the Vermont Castings Defiant (circa 1975) and the Federal Airtight 288 (circa 1986).

Mostly cast iron, neither one requires either a separate grate or any firebrick. The 288 has a Shaker grate hopper that allows dropping ashes into an ash pit below and thus permits continuous fire burning.

Unfortunately, neither stove is no longer available, and that's one reason why I am hanging onto the 288.

 

[laynes69]

We went from a furnace with shaker grates to a furnace without them and I don't miss them. I was skeptical at first, but after seeing the benefits I was sold. Our furnace holds coals much longer than the furnace with grates.