Heating with wood has been unthinkable over the past few months in southern Wisconsin. We had the hottest, driest summer in recorded history. But all of that has come to pass. A few rains have come, and the 90's and 100's have passed into 80's and 70's. Last night, I got up in the middle of the night to shut the window as the temps fell into the 40's.
So this morning was a good day to try out my new soot eater. I only had the 18 feet that it came with and 23 feet of chimney to the clean-out, so I went bottom up to see how it did from the clean out inside our walk-in closet. I found it fairly easy to operate the drill and to clean the chimney. Attaching the rods went pretty well. Disconnecting the rods was a major pain in the rear from my perspective. The rods just don't come apart easily using the little tool provided. Maybe practice will make that job better. I got about a cup of dry powder from the cleaning. I really like the flexible rods and wish that the regular rods for the chimney brush were that flexible. We used plastic and duct tape to mostly seal the area beneath the clean-out. Clean-up was easy enough that we didn't get ash on my wife's wardrobe, and any sooty smell was gone after a couple of hours with the window open in the bedroom.
Next I disconnected the run from the stove to the family room wall (which I had not cleaned in 2 full seasons). As I expected but was pleased to confirm, there wasn't much build-up in that seven foot run with two 45's, and the soot eater made quick work of that bit of dust after bringing the pipe out into the lawn.
Finally, I climbed up on the roof to use another new method for me: the poly brush and two ropes. I lowered the rope and brush attachment down to my daughter at the clean-out inside the house. After the brush and lower rope was attached to the brush attachment/upper rope, we brought the brush up to the top with a little back and forth towards the top of the chimney. We collected another half cup of dry powder, and we were done. Total output: about a one and one-half cups of dry powder for a full year of burning full time.
The Isle Royale is now ready to burn for its fifth season. Five cords of three-year-old wood is in the replacement pole shed (rebuilt by insurance after being destroyed last November by a fallen tree). And ten more cords of wood are sitting outside under tin from the old pole shed. I'm hoping for a nice mild late summer and fall but prepared for what comes. Until then, my rocking chair in the downstairs family room and bourbon glasses will stay empty. There's still more time for home brewed wheat beer and sitting on the front deck watching the corn finishing up and the days growing shorter.
So this morning was a good day to try out my new soot eater. I only had the 18 feet that it came with and 23 feet of chimney to the clean-out, so I went bottom up to see how it did from the clean out inside our walk-in closet. I found it fairly easy to operate the drill and to clean the chimney. Attaching the rods went pretty well. Disconnecting the rods was a major pain in the rear from my perspective. The rods just don't come apart easily using the little tool provided. Maybe practice will make that job better. I got about a cup of dry powder from the cleaning. I really like the flexible rods and wish that the regular rods for the chimney brush were that flexible. We used plastic and duct tape to mostly seal the area beneath the clean-out. Clean-up was easy enough that we didn't get ash on my wife's wardrobe, and any sooty smell was gone after a couple of hours with the window open in the bedroom.
Next I disconnected the run from the stove to the family room wall (which I had not cleaned in 2 full seasons). As I expected but was pleased to confirm, there wasn't much build-up in that seven foot run with two 45's, and the soot eater made quick work of that bit of dust after bringing the pipe out into the lawn.
Finally, I climbed up on the roof to use another new method for me: the poly brush and two ropes. I lowered the rope and brush attachment down to my daughter at the clean-out inside the house. After the brush and lower rope was attached to the brush attachment/upper rope, we brought the brush up to the top with a little back and forth towards the top of the chimney. We collected another half cup of dry powder, and we were done. Total output: about a one and one-half cups of dry powder for a full year of burning full time.
The Isle Royale is now ready to burn for its fifth season. Five cords of three-year-old wood is in the replacement pole shed (rebuilt by insurance after being destroyed last November by a fallen tree). And ten more cords of wood are sitting outside under tin from the old pole shed. I'm hoping for a nice mild late summer and fall but prepared for what comes. Until then, my rocking chair in the downstairs family room and bourbon glasses will stay empty. There's still more time for home brewed wheat beer and sitting on the front deck watching the corn finishing up and the days growing shorter.
