Get a bit of smoke in my face when opening the door

So I had someone out to clean the chimney for me. I next year I probably won’t try to sneak in the wet uglies when my supply runs low. Better to pay for some gas heat then to clog up the chimney.

 

Nice pile of black stuff. Cause and effect.

Thanks for sharing

 

Any one try burning the creosote once it is in the stove? There has got to be some btu’s there if it could cause a chimney fire, right?

 

I have to ask. What is a “wet ugly”? Odds and ends of not so dry wood?

 

They were stubborn pieces of mostly Norwegian maple that I could only split or noodle small enough to just fit in the stove. When I ran low on dry wood I thought they may be getting close to being ready, but they were also uncovered. I couldn’t split to take a moisture reading. There were some other potential culprits too. Maybe I stack aside and take to the neighbors for pit wood next time.

 

Sounds like a good use for the “wet uglies”. I burned quite a bit of those this last summer/fall getting rid of a stump. I’m too stingy with the good wood to use for such frivolous purpose as stump removal.

 

Do you have a thermometer or probe on your pipe?

 

Sounds like an experiment in the works. Compress it into little pucks, maybe bonding it with a little wax. Probably make a good fire starter.

 

No, it is an insert, could I still install one?

 

How tall is your chimney? When was the last time you had it cleaned?

 

I have. Poured some on top of kindling to start a far, and the results were...meh. Disappointed. Maybe with wax as was suggested?

 

Couldn’t tell you how tall, but generally plenty of draft. Similar to the neighbor’s as pictured. I had it cleaned in the fall.

 

But it causes chimney fires when it is in the chimney. Although I could imagine pieces of it drifting aflame when left in particulate form.
And that is what the guy cleaning the stove for me more or less said, and I let hime take it away with the ash he cleaned out. I would guess it is pretty low moisture content at this point and would more or less completely combust. But maybe there is too much non-combustibles to make it worth while. I'll need to learn to clean my own chimney as too much $$ to have it done, especially twice a year. Then I can try throwing some in my patio jotul when it is nice and hot already. I was imagining something like back to the future III when they are trying to get the train up to 88mph.

 

Don't ask it could get you in trouble

 

I just got a fire going with nice and dry wood. It seems to catch much better than before the cleaning. Unfortunately, even when it was just the kindling getting going, the smoke came out the door still. The stove didn’t used to do this earlier in the season. Should I try to get the sweep out again to take a look if there might be something blocking the airflow? I can climb up on the roof to take a look, but not sure about disassembling the cap.

 

Thank you for the tip, but I think it is more then that.. the fire never really took off and is sort of smoldering despite the dry wood. I think there has to be some sort of obstruction or something else clogged in the stove. It is really not behaving like it used to.