Johnny LaRue
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Registered: 12-2007
Location: tending the stove in Hyogo
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Cleaning your chimney from INSIDE your house
Cleaning your chimney from inside your house is possible even if you don't have specially installed chimney sections that open to insert a brush, or taking apart your chimney sections.
You do however need a strait run chimney, where most or all of the pipe runs directly above the stove in a straight line with no elbows or T's.
I always clean my chimney once at the start of the heating season and once midway through. More than this is better and safer of course.
Mid-winter cleanings from the outside would be suicidal without the use of a bucket truck or helicopter. Depending on the pitch of your roof and the weather you may however choose to do it from outside. I do the outside topmost section only in spring or summer in fine,dry weather.
Here's how to do it from inside: First you need a flexible set of rods and the right sized steel brush for your width.
Bend the first section of rod to less than 45deg. to make the turn from the stove into the chimney. Open the flue and really push the brush hard to get it through. It may seem impossible at first but it'll go.
WARNING this may cause some of the excess cement used to join sections of the stove in this area, to break off. This can be re-attached with furnace cement later or all new furnace cement applied with a caulk gun or plaster/spackle knife. It has not affected my stove that I know of.
There are softer poly brushes available that may be gentler to use, but may not clean as well as steel.
Next, work the rod sections all the way up till you feel it stopping at the chimney cap. If possible have someone verify from outside the house that it is indeed at the top, you will see debris coming out the cap. That or measure your rods carefully to determine chimney length.
Work the brush up and down here at the highest point well. With a straight run chimney this part of it is coldest and most likely to have creosote buildup.
Then work the brush down and back up eventually exiting the stove again.
Remove the top of your stove and vacuum out the debris. There may be enough to fill several vacuum bags if you've been burning a lot of crappy wood. Now is the time to inspect and or replace all fiberglass gaskets. I recommend buying a gasket kit for your model stove.
Top removed, refractor visible, debris has been cleaned already.
Refractor removed and cleaned, catalytic combuster visible.
If you have a catalytic model, inspect/replace gaskets and gently vacuum the honeycomb well. If non-catalytic use a brush or toothpick to clean the vent between firebox and stovetop, flue.
An aftermarket catalytic unit already failing after one year.
Any comments, criticism welcome.
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2/7/2009, 10:30 pm
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KenElwood
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Location: Nobi-Plain, Suzuka Mountains
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Re: Cleaning your chimney from INSIDE your house
Thanks for this JohnE.
This is my first winter with our new stove here.......
I’ve been dreading taking apart the flue, so maybe I’ll give this a try. Like your chimney, my chimney runs ‘straight up’ too. Also, I’ve got the same kind of flexible rod set as you but with a poly brush instead of the steal wire. I’ll prolly get a steal wire brush sometime next year.
Sucks on the catalytic converter. I’ve always read and heard that they’re expensive and may not be made anymore one day, so I just got a non-catalytic.
ken
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2/9/2009, 6:30 am
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Johnny LaRue
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Re: Cleaning your chimney from INSIDE your house
Ken,
Glad you liked the it. That's probably my last catalytic unit, don't want to buy another , big yen. Well at the time we bought the stove we had the satisfaction of knowing it was supposedly the cleanest burning stove made. Had it imported in the container with the house, but didn't know that all US model stoves at that time had to be catalytic. Didn't really want one, but couldn't send it back haha.
Let me know how it goes with the poly brush. If you twist it clockwise alot while cleaning it should do the job.
Does your stove have a ceramic refractor?
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2/10/2009, 11:26 am
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KenElwood
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Re: Cleaning your chimney from INSIDE your house
Hey JohnE,
Yeah, my woodstove's got a ceramic refractor.
Thanks for the tip on using the poly brush --it'll be my firt time to use it.
ken
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2/19/2009, 12:14 am
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