Will a chimney fan reduce creosote buildup?

[hazmat]

I have a small woodstove in my family room. We burn 4 cords per year. Every cord or so, I have to clean the chimney as creosote has built up, reducing draft. Cleaning the flue every cord of wood seems excessive to me.

The flue exits the stove, goes thru a couple bends, and then out the wall. Once outside, there is a T (cleanout on bottom) and the Stainless chimney goes up the wall to above the roof.

To head off a couple questions - the wood is dry & burns hot. Draft is decent once the flue is a little warm (I have to burn a sheet of newspaper in the flue to start a cold stove). Once running, there is no problem with smoke in the house.

The problem seems to be that the chimney is 90% outdoors - which cools the smoke such that it condenses into creosote before it exits the chimney. Thus my idea of a chimney fan. Another consideration would be to box in the metal chimney to keep it warmer...

Thoughts? I'm really tired of climbing my extension ladder in the snow to clean the chimney (the cleanout T is 12' off the ground). /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Here's a link to what I am talking about chimney fan

 

[scott_vt]

Gee Haz,
That link to the chimney fan is really neat, dont think I have ever seen that one before /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

In answer to your initial question, I would think that the only thing you could do as you suggest, and build an encloser around the existing stainless pipe to keep it warmer. Maybe others will have better suggestions. One other thing that I have seen is those chimney sweeping logs I have seen advertised on tv. I have not used one myself but it looks like it may be worth a try /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

scotty

 

[billbill1]

Haz, that fan might work, I thought about one in the past myself (didn't ever try it though). I think that your biggest problem is the offsets before the chimney goes straight up. I think that the offsets allow the smoke to slow down and therefore cool which causes the buildup. My previous home had the exact same problem. All of the stoves I've had with straight chimneys were no problem. The fan just might make it exhaust fast enough to keep the chimney hot and clean. Might make you burn more wood at the same time.

 

[JimR]

Do you have a magnetic temperature gauge on your stovepipe? If so do you keep the pipe in the 300-400 degree range? I have found that this is the key to low/no creosote buildup in my chimney. Also burning one helluva hot fire a day seems to do the trick. Another thing is the damper. I no longer use a dmaper on my stoves in either house. I found that the damper allowed creosote to build up in the first pipe section. The fan is a great idea. As mention above, I think you will be burning a lot more wood. Closing in the chimney would greatly reduce the cooling down of the pipe.

 

[beenthere]

Hazmat
I think that fan will help the 'smoke' draft problem initially, but it will become loaded and dripping with creosote very quickly. The creosote is the junk condensing out of the smoke when it cools. The only cure, I believe, is to get the chimney pipe warmer either by insulating it, or by burning a hotter fire. The latter isn't a good choice as it will consume a lot of wood and will force extra heat into the home that you likely don't need or want.
The simplest solution might be to continue cleaning the chimney every cord.
And if the firewood is less than two years old since being split, and stored under cover for good drying - it isn't dry firewood IMO. An extra year or two makes a big difference.

 

[hazmat]

<font color="blue">I think that fan will help the 'smoke' draft problem initially, but it will become loaded and dripping with creosote very quickly </font>

I called the company today to ask about my situation. They stated that the fan is primarily designed to address smokey fireplaces (bad draft). The guy said it would probably help my situation due to faster movement of the smoke. He also stated (as beenthere has observed) that the fan may get fouled with creosote & require cleaning. I'd need a 40' extension ladder to reach the top of the chimney /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif.

The fan retails for $1,300 - need to run electric to it as well (not a trivial task considering it is an outdoor run).

Sounds like the cheapest solution is to continue to clean the chimney. Anybody know where I can get a black top hat? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I'll try to get ahead on my wood cutting & splitting - but I always seem pressed for time... I notice a big difference between 1 & 2 year old wood. I've never made it to 3 year old wood.

 

[CTyler]

As suggested you could insulate the pipe. You could replace the existing outside pipe with a double or triple wall pipe. However this stuff isnt cheap either.

 

[rancar]

<font color="blue">The fan retails for $1,300...sounds like the cheapest solution is to continue to clean the chimney.</font>

Hello Steve,

Couple quick questions....

1) Does your wood stove have a built in catalytic combustor?

2) How do you burn your wood? Does the stove run continously, 24 hrs or are you starting it up from a cold start once every day?

I've burned with wood for the past 18 years in old pre-catalytic days and post-combustor days. I've found creosote build-up is minimized with a good state of the art wood stove with catalytic combustor. If you don't have this type, if might be more cost effective in the long run to consider purchasing a new state of the art wood stove with the $1,300 you might be spending on the fan. I've also found creosote build-up is minimized if the stove is burning continuously. When my wife and I were both working and away from the house each winter day, we would have to start up the stove each day from a cold start. Regardless of how dry the wood was or the type of wood we used, we would have to clean the stove pipe about once a month and the chimney once a year. My wife is home this year from work and we run the stove 24/7 and have yet to clean the piping since the start of the burn season in late October.

...Bob

 

[hazmat]

It is double wall pipe already... You ain't kidding about the cost. I paid more for the chimney than the stove. If I remember right ~$100 per 3' section...

 

[LMTC]

This is a "take it for what it's worth". We have heated exclusively with wood for 21 seasons now. NEVER had a creosote problem. 2 keys from my experience, one leading to the other. Chimney needs to stay hot/warm. When smoke makes it outside before it cools/condenses, ou get very little creosote. The dryer the wood (in general) the hotter the burn and the less the moisture content in the smoke, both helping minimize creosote. Early on I BOUGHT several cords to get me ahead of the game. For 15+ years I burned wood that was split, kept under cover and up off the ground, and that had been down a minimum of two full years, more often three. I now buy all my wood from a very reliable source (read "friend") and he supplies me with his oldest, yet still solid, oak and ash. I put it under cover 18-24 months.

It will pay you to get to the point where your wood has been down and split for two years, assuming you can cover it.