How often does a flue need sweeping ?

[Riggerbear]

Evening all,

I have a 5kw esse woodburner with an external twin skin stainless flue.

How often do you guys sweep your flues or have them done for you ?

I only burn seasoned wood around or below 20% moisture content so I don't put any old crap in it.

Thanks in advance

[Stereo]

My wood burner gets done once a year. It has a straight up and down ss flue and never really gets that mucky. My esse w23 stove gets done 3 or 4 times but that's largely down to the poor flue install which should be sorted soon.

[niftysteve]

Evening all,

I have a 5kw esse woodburner with an external twin skin stainless flue.

How often do you guys sweep your flues or have them done for you ?

I only burn seasoned wood around or below 20% moisture content so I don't put any old crap in it.

Thanks in advance

 

sweep at least once a year if burning every night twice a year

[Mortimer Firewood]

Once a year sod all comes out of it then

[muttley9050]

Im sure the correct answer is minimum twice a year(thats what the fire brigade would sayto avoid chimney fires).

But in reality it much depends how you use fire. I live in a house with probably 20 stoves and one gassification boiler. I think the boiler could go 5 years and be ok,but still we sweep once a yearin the autumn before first burn of season.

Some of the fires in house need sweeping 3 times to keep clear. If you leave your stove open alot and dont shut it down once a year is fine, one stove in our place is lit constantly but nearly always shutdown on tickover, this needs sweeping 3 times. Buy some brushes and sweep yourself,in the long run its cheaper, u will get a feel for how much junk comes out when you do.

James

[pie eater pete]

I do mine 3 or 4 times a year at least but that's only because none of my wood is seasoned.

[Nick Watkins]

I just did mine, first time in two years!

 

I was surprised by how little came out of the flue that goes straight up and is used daily during the winter and by how much came out of the one with two 45's in it but is only generally use on the weekend.

 

Interestingly (not really) I tried to light the debris that came out to see how easily it catches fire, even with a blow torch on it I couldn't get it to flare up. You must have to have a really heavy build up for this stuff to catch alight.

[muttley9050]

The problems occur when successive layers of these volatiles build up, They reduce the draw on the flue which increases flue temperature, if oxygen levels are high enough then this will catch fire and can burn at an intense temperature. Easy ways to avoid fires like this is to burn hot and fast,keeping plenty of air and heat so all fuel can be burnt, this is why gassification boilers are so efficient, they burn hot and fast burning all fuel including vapors. This method of burning is not ideal however in most domestic stoves, so its better to sweep your chimneys at least once a year, a far favorable option than burning your house down or giving yourself carbon monoxide poisoning.

[kev7937]

I just did mine, first time in two years!

 

I was surprised by how little came out of the flue that goes straight up and is used daily during the winter and by how much came out of the one with two 45's in it but is only generally use on the weekend.

 

Interestingly (not really) I tried to light the debris that came out to see how easily it catches fire, even with a blow torch on it I couldn't get it to flare up. You must have to have a really heavy build up for this stuff to catch alight.

 

Surely the stuff that falls out when you stick a brush up is different to the sticky creosote that builds upon the glass when you shut the fire down too early?

 

I don't see how brushing alone can clear this build up as the easiest way to clear the glass is to burn it off rather than manually wipe it off, running a brush up and down it might leave a couple of scratches if you're lucky.

 

So with a badly managed stove does the build up of creosote stay in the flue after sweeping?

[WorcsWuss]

Surely the stuff that falls out when you stick a brush up is different to the sticky creosote that builds upon the glass when you shut the fire down too early?

 

I don't see how brushing alone can clear this build up as the easiest way to clear the glass is to burn it off rather than manually wipe it off, running a brush up and down it might leave a couple of scratches if you're lucky.

 

So with a badly managed stove does the build up of creosote stay in the flue after sweeping?

 

That's my thoughts too. My parents have a stove in the basement which ticks over through the winter. Even taking the first length of stove pipe to the flue outside and banging it on concrete won't get the hard baked creosote off. Sweeping is fine for soot but not much else I reckon.

Our chimney is unlined and I run a brush up it once or twice a year.

I only burn smokeless fuel on the Rayburn now, and we've been here 7 years now, touch wood, with no problems really. I like to give both the Rayburn and the wood burner a good blast at least every other day when running. The woodburner's only been lit twice though this winter!