I need to. And block off the OAK and exhaust. I suffered some surface rust last year for failing to do so.
Put a box of damprid in the firebox area. I get inch of water in the box by fall.[ I do close off the exhaust and oak and still draw the moisture) but, no rust. I also spray the burn pot and the inside walls with Pam cooking spray. Plain not butter-flavored.
I clean and damprid the stoves in the spring, after the heating season is over. Everything gets cleaned except the flue and ESP probe. Those I clean in the fall, just before the next heating season starts. So...both I guess?
The weather made a liar of me this year; we ran the little stove as recently as last Sat morning to take the chill out. That was the last burn of the season, so the stoves got the full cleaning today and technically it's summer now.
Been doing that too... after my very first year of cleaning it well, and getting rust.. To be fair, I did not spray it with anything, either.. Now... I leave the stove as is from shutting it down, plug up the exhaust, and oak, and putting in a Damp Rid container or two.. Dan.
Well, I just finished putting my stoves to sleep for the summer... I'm so happy I waited until the hottest day of the year so far, to do this... Confirms my beliefs, that I am indeed an idiot at times.. Just did the blower deal, and sealed up all the inlets and exhaust ports. Now.. a trip to Home Depot to get some Damp Rid refills, as I know it will not be busy today.. Dan
I can't believe I still have a dirty stove. In fact, I think I have a burn pot full of clean pellets that failed to ignite. I have about 6 weeks left and still need to clean it and the flue.
That's about when it starts here -- though I recall some later Septembers we started a few fires. But definitely by mid-October things are rolling.
I am not so lucky. My Harman glass gets dirty all the time -- probably something to do with my draft.
I noticed last year that a constant burn, either room/manaul or stove mode, the glass always stayed pretty clean. room/auto and i get a brown teardrop stain up and down the right side.. even changed the door gasket one year!!! drove me nuts every year till I realized why...
