Because of the construction work going on at our house, the wife and I haven't run the wood stove for about a month now. It was installed "new" in January, and we burned every day from about Jan 1 to the end of February.
We had been getting quotes from about a half dozen Chimney Sweeps during March, to prep for hiring one for an annual cleaning, starting this summer. The advice we received was that there was no appreciable build up of creosote in our chimney yet, since it is such a new stove, and we could hold off til next sumer (2011).
I noted during Jan/Feb that there is a black residue on the outside of the chimney, on the cap and on about 6 inches or so, down the pipe. I figure this is normal.
Yesterday, we happened to have a rainy, damp day, and we had a window of opportunity to have a fire, so I lit one. Good start up, good burn.........nice feel........we loved it.
Later in the afternoon, my wife noticed some black flakes laying all over the front yard, and obviously, I figured they came from the wood stove. I looked up at the chimney and cap (no fire in Flue), and I noticed that the coated black on the chimney flue and cap as mentioned before, was now spotty.
My quess: The heating of the flue after a month of not burning, flaked off any external crap that had built up on the chimney flue and cap, and THAT'S what's all over my lawn.
Your thoughts as to what it is? How to avoid that in the future?
(I'd believe that the Chimney Sweep would clean the external, as well as the internal, when they come out to clean it next summer).
-Soupy1957
We had been getting quotes from about a half dozen Chimney Sweeps during March, to prep for hiring one for an annual cleaning, starting this summer. The advice we received was that there was no appreciable build up of creosote in our chimney yet, since it is such a new stove, and we could hold off til next sumer (2011).
I noted during Jan/Feb that there is a black residue on the outside of the chimney, on the cap and on about 6 inches or so, down the pipe. I figure this is normal.
Yesterday, we happened to have a rainy, damp day, and we had a window of opportunity to have a fire, so I lit one. Good start up, good burn.........nice feel........we loved it.
Later in the afternoon, my wife noticed some black flakes laying all over the front yard, and obviously, I figured they came from the wood stove. I looked up at the chimney and cap (no fire in Flue), and I noticed that the coated black on the chimney flue and cap as mentioned before, was now spotty.
My quess: The heating of the flue after a month of not burning, flaked off any external crap that had built up on the chimney flue and cap, and THAT'S what's all over my lawn.
Your thoughts as to what it is? How to avoid that in the future?
(I'd believe that the Chimney Sweep would clean the external, as well as the internal, when they come out to clean it next summer).
-Soupy1957