[Peter B]

We have a fireplace, type of which is that the door seals shut, wood burning, & when the temp reaches a certain point, fan comes on and blows out the hot air and heats the entire house to the upper 70's F pretty quickly. We use it pretty often as I have a huge stockpile of wood, plus the gas burner stays off when the fireplace is in use. Question is, recently have been seeing many commercials for the creosote burning logs. Cursory search tells me that a professional, annual chimney cleaning is necessary. Thing is, we have not had a chimney cleaning since we moved in 7 years ago. I only use seasoned, dry wood & have extremely hot fires. Do any of you have your chimneys cleaned regularly? Many say it is a rip-off but I'd like to hear experiences of others who use their fireplace to offset the gas bill during our winters

[Nephler]

You should without a doubt get your chimney cleaned by a pro. Do not use those "cleaning logs".
If a wood burner or fire place is used regularly, it should be cleaned regularly/yearly.

[Bydand]

Have your chimney cleaned.

I burn our fireplace every once in a while and have the chimney cleaned every other year. If I burned it quite a bit during the year I would have it done every year. I burn very dry wood and like a hot fire, and it needs it every time it has been cleaned.

[skyl4rk]

Get your chimney cleaned and inspected by a chimney cleaner with some experience. Chimney fires are very dangerous, you can lose your house to one. After 7 years, you need to do this, it is very important. If you burn a lot of wood, get your chimney cleaned annually. You can do it yourself but if you have not done it before, have a pro do it and watch what he does.

[daydreamin71]

I agree with the previous posters. We are in NY, not in MI, but we use a wood stove quite a bit to help with heating bills (unfortunately where we live the natural gas lines only come part way up our hill, and we are at the top. So we are forced to choose between oil and propane as a primary heat fuel). We burn a lot of wood every winter, and have the chimney cleaned yearly. And it definitely needs it yearly. By not cleaning it you are running the very real risk of a chimney fire.

I am wondering what types of woods are easily available for burning in NW MI? And do many Michiganders use fireplaces/wood stoves for heating their homes in the winter?

[Nephler]

Originally Posted by daydreamin71

I am wondering what types of woods are easily available for burning in NW MI? And do many Michiganders use fireplaces/wood stoves for heating their homes in the winter?

Most burn Maple, Oak, Beach, and even some Ironwood. Outside of towns, I'd say that 75%+ burn wood either for all their heat or to supplement.

[YAZ]

We had a telescopic brush for sweeping the chimney. One person on the roof to do the sweeping, another at the fireplace with a shop-vac.

Typically did this chore the same time every year (Memorial Day, e.g.), so ya don't forget.

Cleaning logs are a scam; don't waste your money. (Maybe OK DURING the burning season, but not a replacement for a good cleaning.)

Oak, maple, hickory, and other hardwoods are the fuel of choice. Never burn coniferous woods in your home.

Somewhat related story:

I read an article out here in the Valley of the Sun that folks were burning "real" wood in their new-built homes. Evidently, the chimneys that were put in couldn't handle the high temps that real wood puts out vs. the wax logs.

Resulted in some house fires.....

Check your chimney specifications.

[uggabugga]

Never burn coniferous woods in your home.

i had never heard this before i moved to the midwest and east coast. in pretty much all the mountain states, pine is all there is, and people burn it for years on end without incident.

from mastersweep.com:

Back in the early 1980's, tests were conducted to discover which kind of wood created the most creosote in a regular "open" fireplace. The results were surprising. Contrary to popular opinion, the hardwood's, like oak and madrone, created MORE creosote than the softwoods, like fir and pine. The reason for this, is that if the softwoods are dry, they create a hotter, more intense fire. The draft created by the hotter fire moves the air up the chimney faster! Because it is moving faster, the flue gas does not have as much time to condense as creosote inside the chimney. Also, because the flue gas is hotter: it does not cool down to the condensation point as quickly. On the contrary, the dense hardwood's tend to smolder more, so their flue gas temperature is cooler. Thus, more creosote is able to condense on the surface of the flue. So, saying that "fir builds up more creosote than oak" just isn't true! It is a misunderstanding to think that it's the pitch in wood which causes creosote. It's not the pitch that is the problem, it's the water IN the pitch. Once the water in the wood has evaporated, that pitch becomes high octane fuel! When dry, softwoods burn extremely hot!

[wagonman76]

I have to clean mine every couple weeks. Sometimes I can prolong it to 3 weeks if every day I beat the pipe to knock the accumulation off. But right on the stove it says to inspect and clean the pipe twice a month.

However the stove isn't in the most ideal place. It's crammed into one corner of the house, the room that has the lowest ceiling. I think they put it there because makes the shortest chimney possible. So I can't run the fire as hot as I would like, because the corner gets too hot. I already keep a fan going behind the stove full blast, and sometimes another fan to pull the rest of the heat from the room and get it out to the rest of the house.

The pipe in the house gets it the worst. It only lasts a couple years at the most before it starts to disentegrate. But after a few weeks the roof pipe gets pretty messy too. To clean it, I slide the stove to the side and remove the house pipe. Then I clean the roof pipe from below, and the house pipe sections individually.

I've never tried a cleaning log, they seem to be pretty expensive for as much as I need to clean the thing. One thing I have found that helps is Rutland Creosote Remover. About $11 or $12 for a container that lasts half a season. It's by no means a miracle, but it really does help to loosen the buildup and make it easier to clean. When I run a heavy dose of it, it lines the pipe with this light grayish brown stuff and the buildup takes almost nothing to remove.

We already had the chimney light up once after coming home to a cold house and running it too hot and not cleaning it for 2 1/2 weeks. Called the fire dept but was able to get it out by shutting off the air and continually wrapping the pipe with wet towels. They used their thermal tester and said most of the pipe was stone cold but there was a hot spot in the house part. Even an hour later after I took it apart to clean it there were glowing chunks of crud in the house pipe. But I've learned to identify "that cigarette smoke smell" when it thinks about lighting up, and to shut it off till I can clean it.

I was raised with wood heat so I've got a good idea how to run the stove. We burn beech, maple, ironwood, a little bit of cherry. We let it sit and dry for at least 1 season before we burn it. I try to stay away from poplar because I've always heard it's junk wood.

Yet I hear about people everywhere whose pipes last for 5 years or more, and almost never have to clean the pipe. It must be the location of the stove.

[gonzo3165]

I also recommend a cleaning and inspection. When I first bought my house several years ago I had a chimney sweep inspect it. He found exposed wood up in the attic that had black burn marks on it. That was a fire waiting to happen.

Also, a one time cleaning would let you ask the chimney sweep how bad it looks, and how often to consider cleaning based on your anticipated use. Plus he might have some other handy tips that you could benefit from if you watch him during the inspection.

At least do it this one time and then decide what to do after that!